You've Started Something
by backinthebox
Summary: One year after a sober enough confession that they didn't quite follow through on, Aubrey and Stacie meet again. (The follow-up to Mixing the Bitter With the Sweet/prequel to the Welcome to The Lodge at Fallen Leaves series)
1. Chapter 1

Stacie Conrad hated her internship.

Okay, maybe not _hate_ , that was too strong a word for it. Loathe, maybe? Dislike seemed too weak a word for it. She _disliked_ reheated pizza. She _disliked_ coffee drinks that were more sugar than coffee. Dry pizza and syrupy coffee had nothing on her internship.

Maybe it was because she'd applied for the Research and Development department and got lumped with all the other interns to do clerical duty. Maybe it was because as an incoming college junior, she was the youngest one there, and therefore made to be everyone's errand girl. Or maybe it was because the summer internship started just two days after The Barden Bellas' summer tour ended and she was stuck in an office while her friends went down to California to enjoy the beach.

So she didn't _hate_ her internship. She just really, really disliked it.

Or maybe it was the fact that two days into her internship, word started going around the office that their little branch in Pennsylvania was getting a visit from the Oversight Committee of their parent company and would be the subject of a review.

Stacie didn't need to know business-speak to know that the words "oversight" and "review" were not good indicators.

But what did she know? She was an unpaid intern _not_ enjoying the California sun.

She would gladly lay the blame on Fat Amy and Cynthia Rose for putting forth the idea to spend the rest of the summer in Southern California so late in the game (three days before their tour ended), but she also knew some of the blame had to be on Denise, who was going to be a senior in the coming school year and who almost had a nervous breakdown earlier in the year about her career prospects with a degree in Social Work.

Which, Stacie had to admit, was pretty limiting as a whole.

So, yeah. Summer internship? Totally Denise's fault.

But Denise's breakdown had sparked Stacie's own concerns about becoming an upperclassman, having finished almost all of her basic subjects and had to really choose a concentration for her Science degree.

 _Which was why she had applied for the R &D department_, but no: Someone somewhere in the corporate labyrinth decided interns could only do filing.

But, she supposed she could be grateful for a few things.

Things like being back at home, even if her mom was away on business, because at least Stacie got to sleep in her own bed without the constant chatter of nine other girls living under the same roof. (She'll defend Fat Amy and fight anyone who criticized her, but Patricia Amy had not yet learned the value of one's _inside voice_.)

Because being home meant she knew all the good places to go for specific things, like where to get the best muffins, where the best thrift shops that weren't entirely seedy were, cheap record stores, or even where to get a cheap-but-delicious Italian meal. These, after all, were the important things. She loved Barden University, and Georgia was great, but two years in and she _still_ didn't know where all the best places were.

During particularly bad days – which were becoming pretty common around the office, ever since the poor soul from the Oversight Committee, whom they had started calling Head Office Bitch, came to town – she knew which bars she could go to and not get carded if she ordered a drink.

Bad days came in a range of ways: a simple order for her to re-check an entire list of documents from the database after her supervisor came across a single error within the first ten documents, or finding out she'd missed an entire row of data to check and would have to re-do everything because she had no idea where everything had started going wrong.

Or her bus, which had already been running late, broke down in the middle of its route and she was wearing fashionable but not-advisable-for-power-walking heels in the humid Philadelphia summer heat. Finally, she'd managed to flag down a taxi – week's food allowance be damned – and hurtled into the building lobby only to embarrassingly go through her entire purse in search of her ID to even get _near_ the elevators.

By the time she stepped into the elevator, she just wanted the day to end, knowing how bad it looked for an intern to be coming in so late.

Head Office Bitch would have a field day.

Stacie took comfort in the cool air of the elevator, even despite knowing the only reason she was alone in it because of how late in the morning it was, and closed her eyes, trying to catch her breath. Breathing exercises.

Oxygen was her friend.

She didn't realize someone had joined her in the elevator until a female voice noted, "looks like we're heading to the same place."

Stacie was sure she looked every bit as stressed as she felt. Did she _look_ like she wanted to engage in small talk? "Hell?"

"I _did_ expect more fire and brimstone."

Okay, that was cute. Stacie relaxed a little, but still kept her eyes closed. "It's the proximity to Jersey. But I think it gets cooler to the center of hell."

"Does it?"

"It's freezing up at corporate."

"Good to know." A light chuckle. "Although… those are remarkably brave words for an intern."

Stacie's eyes snapped open, and she honestly had no idea what to feel or how to react when she met the expectant gaze of someone she hadn't expected to ever see in the building. _Holy shit_.

"Holy shit."

Aubrey Posen arched an eyebrow at her. "What, no hello?"

"Holy shit."

"It's good to see you too, Stacie."

"Holy—" Stacie stopped herself from saying the same thing one more time, a childhood superstition making her paranoid about three-time repetition, and tried to shake off her shock. "Why are you… What are you… How-" She shook her head, her powers of speech finally catching up. "Aubrey Posen."

Aubrey smiled at her. "Stacie Conrad."

"Oh my god."

Stacie suddenly had a flashback of memory, the last time that phrase had been uttered between them, and the very visceral memory was enough to trigger a warmth that had nothing to do with the weather outside.

And then her brain caught up, and made the connection to _why_ Aubrey could be in the office building.

Her mouth did the rest.

"You're Head Office Bitch."

Aubrey rolled her eyes. "Apparently." She checked the elevator display, and turned back to Stacie. "Is subtlety not common in the Mid-Atlantic? Or, you know, the polite thing and only talking about people behind their backs?"

Stacie frowned. "Are people giving you a hard time? Is anyone mean to you?"

"And as an intern you're gonna talk to them?" Aubrey asked skeptically.

Fair point.

Now that her shock had started to wear off, Stacie took a moment to gaze over Aubrey, whom she had last seen two days after Aubrey had graduated from Barden, before Aubrey left for a job almost immediately after graduation and hadn't been back on campus since. Which… was fair, Stacie supposed, nobody really stayed after graduation just to hang out; that was what homecomings were for. But Stacie would be lying if she said she hadn't been disappointed by the fact that Aubrey hadn't even shown up to support the Barden Bellas, having been former Bellas captain, at any of their competitions or concerts during the past year.

And, to add injury to insult, Aubrey looked really good. Aubrey was gifted with the face of the annoyingly pretty – who could look good even in the harsh fluorescent lighting of an office elevator – but between the natural-looking light makeup, the blond hair hanging loosely around her shoulders and a dark green business dress that accentuated her slim body and brought out some green in her blue eyes, Stacie could _really_ appreciate the view.

Realizing that the way her gaze raked over Aubrey could be grounds for sexual harassment, Stacie snapped her eyes back to Aubrey's, who looked on with not a small amount of fond amusement. "I've missed you too, Stacie."

God, since when did Aubrey's voice get that low? It had been bad enough back when they had been in the Bellas together, when Aubrey wasn't yelling at them for a myriad of reasons and the near-constant stress Aubrey had been under keeping her voice at a near-constant high pitch, but now? The lower pitch triggered another memory, from the same circumstances of the earlier recollection, and Stacie had to bite her lip to keep from whimpering.

For her part, Aubrey could only wonder if Stacie had any idea what the very sight of her biting her lip did to her.

Before either of them could do or say anything, the elevator signaled their arrival to Stacie's floor, and Stacie wanted to slap Aubrey when the blonde also moved to step out. Seriously, if Aubrey didn't back off, sexual harassment claims were going to be the least of Stacie's worries. (Public indecency came to mind.) "What are you doing?"

"I have a meeting on this floor." Aubrey informed her. If she sounded amused, she couldn't help it: Stacie had always carried herself with utmost confidence and poise, and never shied away from any kind of situation. To see her so lacking in composure was… interesting.

Stacie frowned.

"Stacie." Aubrey said softly, letting some of her professional composure down to show the other girl glimpses of the girl she had once known; and it seemed to work, when Stacie slowly followed Aubrey to the side of the elevator doors. "I know it's weird, and I know you have questions, but we don't have to be…" She paused.

"Weird?" Stacie supplied, even though she knew that wasn't exactly the word Aubrey was looking for.

Aubrey nodded briefly. "Listen: technically, I'm not your boss, and we don't share the same corporate chain of command. And we're friends, right?"

Stacie wasn't sure if Aubrey was looking for confirmation, or was asking rhetorically, but she nodded anyway. "Of course."

Sure. Friends totally slept together that one time and had the best sex ever and never talked about it ever again, but sure: They were friends.

"Right. So dinner tonight?" Aubrey asked.

"Dinner. Right. Sure." Stacie nodded. And then she stopped, and frowned. "Wait, what?"

"Dinner." Aubrey repeated. "To catch up. Talk."

"Catch up. Talk." Stacie echoed. "Dinner." God, she sounded like a moron. She straightened, suddenly remembering that this was _Aubrey_ , who had practically drooled over Stacie's application form during her a cappella auditions, and this had always been a level playing field. "But since you're obviously not an unpaid intern, you're paying."

Aubrey grinned. _That_ was more of the Stacie Conrad she knew. "Of course."

"Meet me at the lobby after work."

Aubrey noted, "I usually leave at six."

"What? Why?" Stacie demanded.

Aubrey rolled her eyes. "I report in to my boss every EOB, and depending on the day, that could go from five minutes to the rest of the night."

Stacie sighed. "Fine. I guess I need to make up for being late today, anyway."

"Yeah, why-" Aubrey reached over and plucked a small leaf from Stacie's shoulder, "—were you late?"

Stacie rolled her eyes. "Long story. I'll tell you over dinner."

"Short version?"

"Bus broke down."

"Aww." Aubrey pouted in sympathy, and it took all of Stacie's willpower not to kiss that pout away. She glanced at her watch – her very expensive watch, Stacie couldn't help but notice – and motioned to the door. "Shall we?"

Stacie smiled, and presented her ID to the scanner, effectively logging in. She asked, "Does Chloe know you're in Pennsylvania?"

Behind her, unseen, Aubrey momentarily faltered. "We, uh, we haven't spoken."

Stacie nodded, unaware of the conflict she had just started within Aubrey. "Yeah, it's been a busy few weeks what with the tour ending and the trip to LA."

"Trip to LA?" Aubrey echoed.

Stacie glanced at her. "The Bellas are vacationing in one of Amy's houses."

"In LA?" Aubrey questioned.

"And I guess CR has family there?" Stacie surmised, heading to the area where the interns were working. "Anyway, the Bellas are in LA."

"But you're not?"

"I got the internship." Stacie shrugged. "I figured it wouldn't look too good if I didn't even show."

Aubrey smiled at her, and it was so pure and genuine in the happiness it conveyed that it buoyed Stacie's spirits despite her morning leading up to the elevator. "Well I'm glad you're not in LA."

Stacie smiled back. "Me too."

As Stacie entered the cube where she usually sat, Aubrey moved on towards the row of conference rooms at the far side of the room.

Stacie ignored the looks of curiosity of her fellow interns – they only ever spoke to the group who handed them the reports to file and verify, nobody else – and Stacie pretended nothing was amiss.

As if she didn't have plans for dinner with _Aubrey Posen_ … who she now had to impress with what Philadelphia and the rest of her tiny corner of Pennsylvania had to offer.

Aubrey Posen, her former Barden Bellas team captain who had featured in not a few of her more vivid… _daydreams_ , who had walked out of Barden and whom Stacie had already, if albeit reluctantly, written off as the one who got away.

Except she was _here_. Now.

And already she and Aubrey were dancing around each other as if a year hadn't passed.


	2. Chapter 2

2012

Sex was easy. Sex was fun, and simple, and could be negotiated to include zero complications.

But getting to know Aubrey had nothing to do with sex. Which should have been her first clue.

Stacie had had very few friendships with other girls before, so befriending a whole group of them at one time had been a new experience, but Chloe, co-captain of the Barden Bellas, made sure everyone got along and found friendships among the Barden Bellas. Since a majority of them were Barden freshmen, there were a lot to learn and discover together, and it wasn't uncommon for them to have lunch together or share a table at the library or at the quad during breaks. Chloe, who seemed to be friends with almost everyone in campus, could be counted on to go out with them to the different sorority and fraternity parties, the all-ages clubs, and basically just show the Bellas around.

Aubrey was a different story. Aubrey, when not around Chloe, usually kept to herself or her small group of friends outside the Barden Bellas circle. She was popular enough, because she still made appearances at parties, but she could usually be found with the same set of people, in varying combinations, and didn't try to socialize with the new Bellas very much.

Stacie honestly had no idea what had first made her try to crack the senior Bella, why she sought Aubrey out at parties and why she'd started invading Aubrey's lunches and library time, but in the end she'd learned Aubrey's coffee order and Aubrey stopped making a dramatic show of giving Stacie space to sit when a table was crowded, and knew when to give Stacie a protein bar when a class ran late heading into rehearsals.

What she did know was this: with Chloe hounding Beca and befriending the entire Barden Bellas, Stacie was sure Aubrey needed some kind of companionship to Bellas-related events, and since everyone else seemed to be deathly afraid of her, Stacie found that she liked the idea of being the one who could be Aubrey's friend.

And, really, that's all that it was: companionship. Someone to sit with in a room, a friendly smile across a crowd. Aubrey was reluctant to talk, and Stacie never pushed. At most they offered witty asides and honest critiques of each other's work – Stacie, the former, and Aubrey offered the latter – but they didn't need to know each other's life stories to be friends, for trust to become part of their relationship.

Sure, Stacie was aware that Aubrey found her at least attractive – the staring during her audition was pretty hard to miss, and she doubted it was a coincidence the way Aubrey's eyes raked over her body when they ran into each other at parties and Aubrey was at least two drinks in – and Aubrey had definitely found herself into some of Stacie's more salacious daydreams; but there was a line, and even though Stacie enjoyed playing up how she flirted with Aubrey, she knew just how hard it was to find someone she could just _trust_ , or someone she could just _be_ with, and sex was sure to mess that up.

Yes, she was aware of the irony.

She had never intended Aubrey to know, until the week before finals and Beca had sent the Bellas a text message with instructions to head to the residential lane for student organizations, to a house that was apparently reserved for the Barden Bellas. Maybe it was seeing Aubrey sharing whiskey shots with Beca, with whom she had been so antagonistic over the course of the year, or the fact that Aubrey was deliberately avoiding Chloe, but Stacie realized with a start just how much she was going to miss Aubrey, how much she dreaded the prospect of Aubrey graduating and forgetting about the Bellas, leaving them behind.

Leaving _her_ behind.

That she and Chloe were obviously at odds had not helped the creeping dread, because if the argument was true – Chloe wasn't graduating and Aubrey was pissed that Chloe hadn't bothered to share that information beforehand – then there was really nothing that was going to keep Aubrey from just walking away.

And some fatalistic part of Stacie had decided that she had to tell Aubrey, at least clue her in that their friendship, as based on companionable silence as it was, meant something to her.

And Aubrey kept… not so much avoiding, as not-addressing it. She acknowledged the remarks, and said general words of reassurance, but nothing that indicated she'd felt the same. And… that was fair, maybe, because Stacie had gone to Aubrey to try and comfort her about her confrontation with Chloe, not to be made to feel better about having a crush.

But a part of her had wanted some actual sign of acknowledgement, some recognition that there was something between them.

So Stacie had sacrificed her pride at the altar of dignity and confessed that whatever attraction was going on between them had not started when Aubrey stared at her during auditions.

Because Stacie had caught a glimpse of Aubrey during the Activity Fair, had seen her laughing with someone at a table for one of the more academic-based organizations, and had been sufficiently ensnared. She hadn't caught her name then, but two days later saw her again at the coffee cart near the Arts Building, tacking a light-blue flyer, and that was the first time Stacie had learned about auditions for the Barden Bellas.

Stacie hadn't known what she had expected, or even what she wanted to come out of her confession, but what she never would have expected was to end up making out with Aubrey in one of the rooms of the newly-reacquired Barden Bella house.

She knew they couldn't start something – Aubrey had been graduating and Stacie really had no clue how to be in a relationship – but she had meant it when she'd answered Aubrey's warning with the fact that she was sober enough not to start anything that night. It wasn't a drunken tryst in the dark of night, nor was it an attempt to start a relationship that they both knew would go nowhere, fast. Because she knew just how stacked against them the odds were, and was self-aware enough not to promise anything she probably wouldn't be able to keep.

But they had kissed, and if everything that could ever had been between them started and ended with that kiss, Stacie was going to make sure it damn well counted.

Sex was easy.

But occupying the same bed with Aubrey, sharing kisses as if it would make up for every kiss they never got to share and possibly never would, being intimate in a way that she never had been with any of her previous sexual partners… well, that had been easier than breathing. Sometimes they would talk, about stupid things like TV shows and movies they'd watched as children, or how they preferred their chocolate chip cookies – Aubrey liked hers smooth and buttery, Stacie preferred the chunky variant – and their favorite books, but mostly there was just kissing.

Stacie had fallen asleep, and she would never know how Aubrey managed to make it look like her and Stacie sharing a bed was perfectly innocent when apparently Denise and Ashley had gone to check on them, but the next thing she knew, Aubrey was waking her up before she left.

Had she known at the time how much that small gesture would bother her in the coming months, she would have preferred Aubrey left her to sleep, because at the time she had appreciated that Aubrey hadn't wanted her to wake up alone and be left to wonder why Aubrey had left. But it was late – or very early in the morning – and Aubrey needed to talk to Chloe before everybody woke up and they wouldn't have the discretion of the cover of darkness.

Stacie had caught her wrist as she slipped away, and asked her to promise to see her one last time before she graduated and left Barden behind.

Aubrey had looked at her then, and gave her a weak smile. "I'm going to try."

It should have been enough.

It _should_ have been enough, sitting through breakfast with everyone and seeing Aubrey and Chloe doing better than they had been the previous evening. Stacie should have seen the repaired friendship and felt comforted by the fact that Aubrey hadn't sneaked off into the night, that the repaired friendship implied that Aubrey would still have ties to Barden. She could have taken comfort in the fact that Aubrey saw nothing weird about sitting beside her even though everyone at the table knew Stacie had ditched a drinking contest the night before to go see Aubrey.

But she knew there was a reason why Aubrey hadn't made the promise.

Which was why Stacie ended up sneaking into the hotel after-party of Barden's recent graduates, over a week later, knowing Chloe had to head home immediately after Aubrey's graduation ceremony and knowing the after-party was being held and hosted by the graduates who either didn't have family visiting or were left to their own devices for the night. The Treblemaker known as Unicycle - whose real name she'd never bothered to know and didn't care – had friends among the graduates (like Chloe, he, too, was to remain a Barden student after his fourth year in the university), had let slip that Aubrey was attending the hotel party.

Stacie would often remember the way Aubrey had looked at her when they'd first seen each other that night.

Because she had been the subject of many lustful gazes in her life, but she had never felt more _wanted_ than under that particular gaze.


	3. Chapter 3

2012

One takeaway Stacie had from that first night at the Bella House was that while Aubrey was not a stranger to same-sex attraction, she had not yet fulfilled the whole range of activities involved in college experimentation. And, surprisingly to Stacie, none of the activities she _had_ indulged in had involved Chloe, despite their evident closeness and Chloe's lack of inhibitions.

It was one of the reasons Stacie hadn't pushed for more that night, because despite her own lack of restraint sexually, she understood that there were still some things that deserved more than just a quick round in the middle of the night while their friends got drunk on the floor below.

She figured, she had one shot at this, and who was going to say no to graduation sex, really?

(Or just sex, full stop.)

And, admittedly, the part of her that was a hunter kind of thrilled at the possibility of being Aubrey's ultimate college experiment.

She hadn't planned a sexual encounter as meticulously as she had Aubrey's graduation night, and really, in hindsight, she really should have stopped to ask herself why.

But just in case Aubrey said no to sex, Stacie reasoned that she could afford at least two pay-per-view movies and breakfast; or if Aubrey said no in general, hotel bookings could be canceled, or there were other graduates who could step in as consolation.

But Aubrey, completely sober, had observed Stacie the moment the freshman had entered the hotel ballroom, slowly ran her gaze down the taller girl's form, and when they crossed the distance from each other, had left no doubt in Stacie's mind that the hotel room was going to be used.

It would be easy to describe that stolen moment as sex, no strings, the simple release of a year's worth of attraction.

And it was. "Stolen". In the way that they went about it in secret, taken surreptitiously and outside of anyone's knowledge. None of their friends knew, or probably would ever know, that after Aubrey officially stopped being a Barden University student and Barden Bellas captain, she threw caution and responsibility out the window and allowed herself a few hours to just be with Stacie.

Because who knew when they could have this again, when they would be able to have a moment like this, without worrying about what happened after.

Because nothing had changed: Aubrey was still leaving. And Stacie was still reluctant to be tied down to a relationship, especially one where one half of the relationship wouldn't even be in the same state.

But every touch, every kiss, every glance that were meant to excise their desire only served to do the opposite, what was supposed to sate only made them want more, and in the end, when their lust burned itself out to faint embers, they had carved out places for themselves in each other against their will and knowledge.

It was a moment. Pushing further what they had started that night at the Barden Bellas house, now that they no longer needed to be discreet or worry about what happens after. Because they both knew what was going to happen, once they left the room, and they had resigned themselves to it, in a way others would not have been so willing to accept.

But Aubrey was pragmatic, and Stacie was realistic, and they both knew that any relationship they started at that point, beyond that hotel room, could only end in disaster.

They were reluctant to leave the bed the morning after Aubrey's graduation day, and maybe as a preemptive strike against labeling the encounter as a one-night stand, ended up staying an extra night, splitting the final bill on Monday morning.

Aubrey, who had brought her car to the hotel, drove them back to campus, the Barden University campus noticeably less crowded that Monday, after exams and graduation, most of its student population having left the day after exams; and even Chloe, who had stayed just long enough to attend the graduation ceremony, had left the very afternoon of that Saturday. The quiet campus made the two women feel like the little bubble they had created in that hotel room extended for a little while longer.

Stacie had already moved most of her things to the Barden Bellas' house, but the things she was bringing home were still in her freshman dorm room, and if she was surprised Aubrey followed her up to her old room, she didn't express it. She sat down on her bed, her roommate already left for the summer, as evidenced by the bare shelves of the other side of the room. She looked at Aubrey, who lingered by the door. "When are you leaving?"

Aubrey smiled wryly. "Two hours ago. But I'm driving, so..."

Stacie chuckled softly. "Sorry."

"Don't be." Aubrey shook her head. "You?"

"Train ticket's for four."

In just over an hour. If they had stayed at the hotel past check out time, they would have missed it. Which meant Stacie had put in a contingency plan to her original plan of just one night. Aubrey glanced at the packed bags, and nodded. "Do you want me to drive you?"

Stacie shook her head. "That's... no."

"Too cliché?" Aubrey guessed.

"I like you here, like this." Stacie nodded. She stood up and went to her bags, rummaging through a backpack and pulling out a box. She approached Aubrey. "I got you something. A graduation present, I guess."

"You didn't have to."

"I know." Stacie had to smile. "Let's say it was Plan B if you didn't like my original idea of a graduation gift."

Aubrey gave her a wry look.

"I didn't have time to wrap it, though." Stacie continued, handing the box over.

Aubrey opened the plain brown box and extracted... "A metronome?" She looked up questioningly at Stacie.

Stacie nodded. "I know there are apps for that, or whatever, but I thought you might like it, being, you know-"

"Obsessive/Compulsive?" Aubrey filled in.

"I was going to say 'regimented'." Stacie replied.

"Sure you were." Aubrey said, amused.

Stacie stuck her tongue out at the blonde. "My point is, you could use this either to help with your stress and anxiety, or as a really cool paperweight."

Aubrey looked down at the wooden metronome, at the dark wood finish of the case, and unlatched the cover, glancing over the mechanism. Aubrey bit her lip as she considered the thoughtfulness that went into picking such a gift, knowing how much grief she had put the Bellas through, including Stacie, given the level of stress she had put on herself over the course of the year. And here Stacie was, giving her something she thought would help. She put the cover back and returned the metronome inside its box, and she looked up to smile softly at Stacie. "Thank you."

"I know, it doesn't exactly scream 'happy graduation', but-"

Aubrey shook her head, cutting her off. "No. It's perfect. Thank you, really."

Stacie watched her, trying to gauge the sincerity of her response. "You like it? Really?"

Aubrey nodded. "I love it."

Stacie's smile was beatific, and it took Aubrey's breath away to witness it. To realize _she_ had made Stacie smile that way.

Aubrey cleared her throat, and glanced away. "Are you sure you don't want me to take you to the station?"

"I already had a cab scheduled."

"Oh. OK." Aubrey had to admit, Stacie's resourcefulness was a remarkable surprise, given her tendency towards flighty behavior around the Bellas.

Stacie was about to offer to call off the cab, since it was the second time Aubrey had offered and she wanted to take Aubrey up on the offer, but her phone beeped that very moment, and it was from the cab company confirming a taxi had been deployed to pick her up.

"For the record, though, I liked the original graduation gift better." Aubrey noted suddenly.

Stacie grinned, and laughed softly. "Me too."

Aubrey hefted the box in her hands, her face pulled in a thoughtful frown. "But between this and the room... that must have cost you."

"Don't think about it." Stacie shook her head. "Worth every penny."

"Stacie."

"Shhh." Stacie shook her head again. "It's rude to talk about money so soon after sex. Show some manners."

"But-"

"You're worth every cent, Aubrey."

They both paused as the implications of the statement sank in.

Aubrey's frown deepened. "That sounds..."

Stacie also frowned. "A little too sleazy, right? I realized it after I said it. I didn't mean to make you sound like a prostitute, I swear."

A shadow passed behind Aubrey's eyes, making her hesitate, before she tentatively started, "I know we said – we agreed – that we can't start anything, not now, not when…" She sighed. "I wish circumstances were different."

"But they're not." Stacie reminded.

Aubrey nodded. "I don't want you to think this is in any way a reflection on you, or how I think of you, or that last night was just—"

"Aubrey." Stacie cut in, gently, stemming the flow of words that she wasn't sure she was ready to hear. "We talked pretty extensively about what the past two nights were. I think we're all talked out on that point. I know it wasn't just sex, or it wasn't just you having one last gay-until-graduation romp. And you know it wasn't just me trying to nail my Bella captain. We're clear on that… or I thought we were." Stacie slowly smiled, trying to ease the tension of the conversation. "Or is this your really convoluted way of telling me just how hot you think I am?"

Aubrey exhaled loudly, accepting the redirect for what it was. "Then I guess I'll just say that you're really hot, but I wish you'd clue other people in that you're not just a pretty face."

Stacie grinned. "You think I'm pretty?"

Aubrey gave her a look of gentle rebuke, reprimanding her for making light of a serious statement.

"Okay." Stacie met her gaze, looking at Aubrey meaningfully. "But only if you agree to stop trying to be some machine that gets everything right all the time."

"I don't-"

Stacie gave her a knowing look.

Aubrey sighed in defeat. "Fine."

"I mean it, Aubrey. Cut yourself some slack."

Aubrey nodded.

"Good." Stacie glanced at her phone again, and gestured towards her bags. "Now help me bring those to the taxi downstairs."

"Oh, is that how it is?" Aubrey asked in good humor, placing the metronome on the shelf beside her.

"Hey, you're the one who brought up how much the room and your present cost." Stacie reminded.

Aubrey rolled her eyes, and moved towards the bags. Stacie caught her arm first, and brought her back into a tight hug. Surprised, Aubrey could only lift her arms and return the embrace. They stood there quietly, holding each other tightly, refusing to be the first to relinquish the contact.

Aubrey was infinitely glad that Stacie was wearing flats while her own high heels made her a few inches taller, which made their embrace easier to manage, because she was not eager to let Stacie go just yet. "Hey, it's okay. You're okay. We're okay."

"I'm going to miss you." Stacie confessed into the crux where Aubrey's neck met her shoulder.

Aubrey's chuckle was a little choked up. "I'll miss you too, Stacie."

"Let's go back to the hotel." Stacie said, only half-jokingly.

"Yes." Aubrey agreed, but only tightened her arms around Stacie. "We should go, before your cab leaves."

"Yeah." Stacie nodded, but didn't let Aubrey go, either.

After one last squeeze, Aubrey reluctantly let go of the taller girl, and stepped towards the bags again. They worked in silence, an almost oppressive silence that hung between them as they gathered Stacie's bags and brought them downstairs to the waiting cab. After stowing everything in the trunk, they stood together by the car, awkward, both of them ignoring the bored and exasperated look on the cab driver's face.

"I guess..." Aubrey fidgeted with the metronome box in her hands, and exhaled. She smiled at Stacie. "Don't be a stranger, Stacie."

"You either." Stacie returned. "Have a good summer?"

Aubrey gave her a wry look.

Stacie smiled weakly, before she hesitated, and cleared her throat. "I just…" She sighed. "Thank you."

"For?" Aubrey asked curiously.

"Last…" Stacie paused, and then smiled faintly. "I'm gonna say 'last night' but really, everything."

Aubrey returned her smile with a weak one of her own. "Me too. I'm… happy we had… this." She paused, unsure. "I'm glad we became friends." Still not quite what she wanted to say. She sighed in defeat, realizing she actually had no idea what she really wanted to say. She looked up at Stacie. "I wish we had more time."

Stacie forced a smile, because, yes, she knew the feeling. "Me too."

Aubrey smiled grimly, and took a step back. "You should go, or you could miss your train."

Stacie nodded, but then she looked down, before looking back up at Aubrey. "Aubrey? I'll get it, you know, if you… I mean, I don't expect weekly phone calls or anything, you'll be busy and I do better in person," Stacie saw Aubrey start to protest, but she shook her head adamantly. "Don't do that, don't argue because we both know I'm right. We never really did long conversations before we started, you know, making out. But, uh, if you... you know, someone else? Meet, or… more? Find a way to not have me know, for a little while."

Aubrey wanted to protest, the objection ready and willing, but she couldn't say anything for certain, and she had no idea what the future held in store for her, or for either of them. She relented, resigned, because if nothing else, she could be honest with Stacie. "You too."

Stacie nodded.

"I can't promise anything," Aubrey started, then grimaced at the fact that she was already making excuses for herself. "I mean, I'll try to call."

"You don't have to."

"I know." Aubrey exhaled, and smiled weakly. "But I'll try, OK? You're not getting rid of me so easily."

Stacie smiled back, biting her lip to keep from blurting out what she was sure would be something stupid, and only nodded.

"Have a good life, Stacie." Aubrey said softly. "Be safe."

Stacie frowned at the parting words, and her frown deepened as she watched Aubrey turn towards her car. She forced joviality into her voice as she called out, "Hey, Aubrey."

Aubrey turned back questioningly.

"Aren't you even gonna kiss me goodbye?" Stacie asked, teasingly, giving her a grin.

Aubrey laughed softly, and with a few short strides, had herself pressed against Stacie, sharing a deep kiss that said more than words ever could.

.

* * *

A/N: Shh, yes, I know. There will be no explicit smut here, just heavily implied.

And I'm sure you have questions: patience. (You can ask them, though. Go right on ahead.)

But I'm feeling a little down right now, so please try to be kind when reviewing.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Thank you for the reviews and kind words of concern last time. I'm feeling better now, thank you.

Just to avoid confusion, we're picking back up on present time.

Read. Enjoy.

.

* * *

"I'll be honest," Aubrey confessed that night, leaning closer to Stacie to be heard over the noise of the bar, "I was hoping for someplace a little more quiet."

They were in what looked to Aubrey to be a sports bar, with the flat-screen TVs that were all over the room, playing the different games happening that evening; and judging by the reactions of the people watching, not one of their teams was winning that night. She and Stacie were seated at a corner of the bar, away from the main group of barflies, a bottle of beer each - thanks to Aubrey's ID and Stacie's charm - and Stacie had ordered them the taco special, which was apparently a DIY approach to taco assembly, the various filling ingredients served in bowls on a tray with mini-tortilla wraps. It was most decidedly _not_ Aubrey's usual dinner fare.

Stacie grinned at her. "We're too comfortable when it's quiet." Their entire friendship was based on comfortable silences, after all. "This way you're tense."

"You want me to be tense?" Aubrey asked, curious.

"I want you to enjoy the food, not try to get into my pants." Stacie answered, pushing the tray of taco filling towards Aubrey.

"Not to nitpick, but you're wearing a skirt."

"So your job's already half-done." Stacie teased. "Eat. I promise it's delicious."

Aubrey pouted at her, but nonetheless picked up one of the small tortillas they had been served, and began to put together the soft taco. "How do you even know about this place, anyway?"

"I used to go out with someone who used to work the bar." Stacie replied, picking up her own tortilla. "The beer on tap sucks, but the salsa's awesome."

Aubrey paused, doing the math, before she concluded, "You were underage."

Stacie grinned at her. "Why do you think was I dating a bartender?"

Aubrey gave her a look. "You were underage. In fact, you're underage to be drinking _right now_."

"And you're out having dinner with an intern, so you're really in no place to judge, Ms. Posen." Stacie retorted, giving Aubrey a flirtatious wink.

Aubrey rolled her eyes, finished her taco assembly, and took a bite from the finished product.

Stacie watched her for a moment, enjoying the look of delight in Aubrey's face when her assertion of the greatness of the salsa lived up to expectations. She grabbed the hot sauce, and practically poured it over her own taco. She glanced at Aubrey and asked, "How did you end up in Philly?"

Aubrey, who had just taken a second bite of her taco, shot her a glare as she finished chewing, and finally swallowed. "The Pennsylvania office has been overdue for a review for a while. My boss has a conference and meetings over the next two weeks, and this was better than sitting in a room debating new and existing protocols, so..." She watched curiously as Stacie took a bite of her own taco, and frowned. "Does the hot sauce not bother you?"

"I've had hotter things in my mouth." Stacie replied, grinning.

"You're impossible."

"And you're easy."

Aubrey rolled her eyes instead of making a snappy rejoinder, finishing her first tortilla and taking a sip of her beer.

"I'll admit, though, never thought I'd ever see you in my town." Stacie noted.

"Yeah, I could tell." Aubrey replied. When Stacie gave her a questioning look, she explained. "You looked like you'd seen a ghost when we were in the elevator this morning."

"I thought your voice was kinda familiar, but why would I think 'Aubrey's here'?" Stacie returned. "You're supposed to be in Chicago."

Aubrey shook her head. "Pretty sure I've mentioned I travel a lot for my job."

"You never told me - or anyone, I think - what company you work for."

Aubrey paused, and frowned at Stacie. "No?"

Stacie shook her head.

Aubrey smiled weakly. "So, funny story, I work for-"

Stacie laughed, and playfully hit her arm. "Too late, I've found you out. But I'm gonna remember this and hold it against you for a long time to come."

"Fair enough." Aubrey obliged. She popped a small square of cheese into her mouth. "Why an internship?"

Stacie told her about Denise's breakdown about career prospects, and added, "I applied for R&D, but I guess looking at documents was the only thing interns are allowed to do."

"Why not try other companies?"

"Yeah…" Stacie drawled, "I just applied to this one, since it's the only research company near my home."

"Fair." Aubrey acknowledged. "But why research?"

"The company takes research from existing Science IPs and incorporates them into their projects. I wanted to learn about that." Stacie explained. When Aubrey tilted her head to the side inquisitively, Stacie went on, "I've finished most of my basics, and I'm really gonna have to choose a major and concentration this year, I can't mess around with every Science subject I can get anymore."

Aubrey nodded in understanding, but had to add, "Yeah, but you can still audit."

Stacie furrowed her brow, puzzled.

"Ask a professor to attend and take a class, but don't get credit for it until you're officially enrolled in it." Aubrey explained. "I have a lot of uncredited Math Theory classes that didn't fit in my curriculum."

Stacie stared at her for a long moment, before she shook her head, and rolled her eyes. "I keep forgetting you weren't _just_ Bella captain and actually attended _four_ years at Barden. Do I need permission from the dean to do that?"

"Not typically. Just the professors whose class you want to sit in. You're pretty much taking the class without getting graded for it, so you'll still have to pay fees and stuff." Aubrey noted. She finished preparing another tortilla, "Of course, if they go on sabbatical when you actually enroll in the subject, it'll be up to your actual professor if they want to consider the grade you got before."

"Does Chloe know about this, because she's never said a word." Stacie complained.

Aubrey popped a lettuce into her mouth, chewing and swallowing before she asked, "With your exception, have the others chosen majors yet?"

"Mostly. I think Ashley's still trying to decide between Psych and Sociology. And Beca just declared her major in Music Production. Because that's apparently a real thing." Stacie said dryly.

Aubrey laughed. "Have they gotten to the part where they explain that mashups won't qualify for her final thesis?"

Stacie's eyes lit up. "What? No. That's not- no. Really?"

Aubrey nodded.

"That's going to rock her world."

"Catch it on video." Aubrey told her.

Stacie nodded, before she paused in thought. "I kind of want _you_ to tell her."

"She won't believe me."

"All the better." Stacie laughed, then stopped abruptly to berate herself. "I'm laughing, but oh my God that's awful for Beca. How do you even know that?"

Aubrey shrugged. "I dated someone in Music, once. He kept complaining about why they had to come up with an original composition when _Glee_ is raking in millions making awful mashups and bad covers for good songs."

Stacie laughed. "What, did he stop believin'?"

"Dear God, that song." Aubrey groaned.

"Oh no, did _you_ stop believin'?" Stacie asked in mock-sympathy.

"That's not how show choir is!" Aubrey protested.

Stacie gasped, and stared at her. Slowly, she began to grin. "Were you in glee?"

"I was in _Choir_ , and we competed in choral contests."

Stacie didn't let up, her entire face buoyed by her grin. "You were in show choir?"

"I was in choral-" Aubrey frowned at Stacie, who was practically choking on her food in laughter. "It's not that funny."

Stacie shook her head, belying Aubrey's statement, placing her hand on Aubrey's arm as she bent over to try and curb her amusement. Aubrey rolled her eyes, and returned to her meal, opting to ignore her friend, who was practically falling off her seat in laughter.

"Oh my God." Stacie gasped, a little later, finally regaining some composure as she sat back up on her seat. Her uncontrollable grin still threatened to split her face in two, however. "Oh my God. I haven't laughed like that in so long. See, this is why I've missed you."

Aubrey cast her a sidelong glance. "Are you done?"

"Not even close." Stacie giggled. She picked up her beer. "You know this means I'm going to make Glee puns about you now, right?"

"Do it, and I'm going to have to make fun of you for knowing enough about Glee to _make_ puns." Aubrey returned.

Stacie's grin faded, because... touché. She bit her lip, and ultimately offered, "truce?"

Aubrey, who had taken a sip of her beer, held out her bottle to Stacie, who tapped it with her own.

They spent the rest of the night talking, catching up on their individual lives and those of their friends, as well as discussing completely random topics that came up. They spoke with ease, comfortable with each other, both eager to tell the other things, as well as wanting to listen and know everything and anything that the other wanted to say. It was a conversation they were both unwilling to end prematurely, except they both had to go to work the next day. When they were done, with Aubrey picking up the tab, they stood together outside the bar to say goodbye.

Aubrey glanced at her watch, and grimaced. "I didn't realize it had gotten so late."

Stacie glanced behind her at the bar, which had halved its population in the time they had been sitting, eating and talking, also not having realized how much time had passed while they were inside. She turned back to Aubrey, and shrugged. "It's fine."

Aubrey frowned as she regarded Stacie. "Are you sure it's safe for you to take the bus home? They gave me a car while I'm here, I can drive you."

"It's fine," Stacie repeated, and waved off her concern. "I live here, remember? And I don't want you driving in unfamiliar streets at night, even with GPS. I'll show you where I live when it's daytime."

Aubrey still looked doubtful, but couldn't refute Stacie's points. "And the bus will take you straight to your house?"

"Around the corner." Stacie admitted. She smiled at Aubrey. "I'll be fine, I promise."

"Text me when you get home." Aubrey told her.

Stacie gave her a wry look, but nodded. She motioned over her shoulder. "Walk me to my stop?"

Aubrey nodded, falling into step with the other girl as they headed to the corner to wait for Stacie's bus.

"What about you? Where are you staying?"

"Apartment around the block from the office." Aubrey informed, pointing ahead in the direction of their office building, which could be seen from their current location.

"Must be good to be the boss."

Aubrey groaned. "I'm not-"

Stacie laughed. "I'm kidding. It's just weird, the fact that you're officially a visiting _executive_."

Aubrey made a face. "I know. It's still weird to me, too. I have an actual office here. I usually have to share a cube with someone."

"It's a nice office, though." Stacie pointed out. "I'm sure the view's awesome."

Aubrey frowned. "It's _Philadelphia_."

"Also sure I'm not talking about what's outside the window."

Aubrey glanced at her.

Stacie met her gaze, the tension that had lingered between them when they had first encountered each other in the elevator returning full force now that it was just the two of them again, and the undercurrent of everything that tension entailed making itself known once more.

Aubrey looked away, and exhaled. They didn't even need to say the problem out loud, as they had hashed and rehashed the same topic in passing before, and the circumstances hadn't changed: Aubrey was no longer tied to Georgia, and Stacie still had two years of college to attend in Barden. And they were still not the best people when it came to handling relationships, especially a long-distance one.

They continued the walk to the stop in silence, Stacie willing to be patient and Aubrey deep in thought, until they got to the corner just as a bus neared, ending their night.

Finally, Aubrey asked hopefully: "Dinner on Friday?"

Stacie glanced at her.

Aubrey offered a faint smile. "It's not a 'sober enough' confession in the middle of the night, or a last goodbye in a hotel room." She shrugged. "Third date's the charm, right? We've never really... We should have a second date."

Stacie quirked an eyebrow. "This was a date?"

"Or a first." Aubrey quickly amended.

Stacie laughed, and shook her head. "You're a dork, why do I even like you so much. Friday. You can drive me home after."

Aubrey furrowed her brow.

"During daytime." Stacie clarified, and spelled it out for the blonde without actually explicitly stating what she meant. " _After_."

Mercifully the bus came to a stop and opened its doors, forcing them to break their stare, and Stacie climbed aboard dutifully.

Aubrey waited until the bus left, before she exhaled a breath she hadn't known she had been holding. She glanced up at the night sky, and wondered, not for the first time, just what the hell was going on between her and Stacie. And, more importantly, just what they really wanted it to be.


	5. Chapter 5

The email that had first announced the upcoming arrival of the representative of corporate headquarters' Oversight Committee had stated that the review would take place at least two weeks, but not longer than a month. By the time Stacie had run into Aubrey in the elevator, the Oversight representative had been in Philadelphia for at least a week.

Which should mean they only had less than a week left.

But Stacie knew differently the moment the email came down that the documentation process would be reviewed by the Oversight Committee.

The documentation process that included the piles of documents that were being checked by their summer interns.

Stacie wondered if this technically changed Aubrey's belief about being on separate chains of command.

Aubrey scowled when Stacie mentioned it, the sandwich in her hands nearly decimated by how tightly she was holding it. "Don't start."

Stacie grinned. "Touchy subject?"

"The universe hates me." Aubrey muttered, before she took a bite of her sandwich.

They were having lunch in Aubrey's office – officially the room designated for visiting executives, and it still blew Stacie's mind to think of her former Bellas captain as an _executive_ – and Stacie took note of the piles of binders stacked beside the couch they were occupying (why a visiting executive would need a couch in their office was a concept Stacie chose to ignore for the moment), and wondered just what, exactly, Aubrey did for the company.

"Other than being a pain in the ass, what exactly do you do for the company?" Stacie asked.

Aubrey sighed heavily. "Whatever they tell me to."

"That…" Stacie had no idea what that meant.

Aubrey glanced at her. "You signed a non-disclosure, right?"

"That lengthy contract that says I can't do or say anything about the company to anyone I know?" Stacie asked. "Signed and initialed."

Aubrey smiled wryly. "Oversight is like the top bracket of Operations. Anything that goes on in the company – the group of companies, actually – we're in charge. We make sure every gear is working in the well-oiled machine that is the corporate hierarchy. I usually deal with personnel management and development; like if a high-level client wants a team to have a special set of skills – _not_ CIA 'special set of skills', don't get excited – we cover that instead of going through the usual Human Resources route."

Stacie had momentarily forgotten about the sandwich in her hand, frozen halfway to her open mouth, until a pickle fell out, startling her. She picked it up and placed it in a napkin, before turning back to Aubrey. "So… you're kind of hot stuff."

"That's what they tell me." Aubrey agreed.

"But when you say 'review'…"

Aubrey grimaced.

Stacie frowned. "Damn."

"So you can imagine the joy and thrill on the faces of people when they realize someone from Oversight is coming to visit." Aubrey noted dryly.

"Not good?"

"It's like Christiane Amanpour showing up in conflict areas."

"I have no idea who that is." Stacie admitted, but before Aubrey could explain, she asked, "But do you _like_ your job?"

"When it's development and training, yes. Workforce management is my jam." Aubrey smiled brightly.

Stacie grimaced at Aubrey's use of slang terms.

Aubrey frowned. "What? No?"

Stacie shook her head.

"Whatever." Aubrey shook her head. "There's a special place in workforce development for people who enjoy bending people's will."

"Your personal niche."

"That's what I'd like to think." Aubrey agreed.

Stacie smiled, happy that Aubrey hadn't fallen into the usual pit of despair of loathing her job but needing the paycheck. "So it seems you're doing well for yourself."

Aubrey shrugged.

"How'd you get a high-ranking job in such a short time?"

"Luck and a serious amount of overtime." Aubrey grumbled.

"Uh huh. And... do you wanna tell me why you've been avoiding the Bellas for the past year?" Stacie asked, in the worst segue in history, not bothering to mince words or risk being misunderstood. For Stacie, the facts were simple: Aubrey had graduated from Barden University, left, and save for the occasional phone call, hadn't really been seen – and barely heard from - since.

"Not the past year..." Aubrey hedged.

"Word play." Stacie waved the protest off.

"You mean semantics?" Aubrey asked.

"You know what I mean." Stacie retorted.

"I called."

"Yeah, at first. But for the past few months it's been like playing Ten Words or Less with you." Stacie accused, which was more or less the amount of words each phone call with Aubrey consisted of. "And we went through three rounds of ICCA contests, we did a winter series of concerts _and_ a summer tour, we sang the national anthem at two different sporting events, and not _once_ did you show up to a Barden Bellas event." She gave Aubrey a questioning look. "Why is that?"

Aubrey shook her head. "I was busy."

Stacie frowned at her, disapprovingly. "Oh, that's how you want to play it?"

Aubrey frowned in confusion.

Stacie met her gaze evenly, daring the other woman to look away. "Corporate headquarters are in New York."

Bingo.

Aubrey glanced away, her gaze skittering to her desk where her laptop lay in wait, hoping for a new email, an incoming conference call, _anything_ , to let her out of this conversation.

"And here we all thought you left Barden for Chicago." Stacie continued. "Imagine how everyone's going to react when I tell them you lied."

Aubrey turned back to her, defensive. "I _went_ to Chicago. I didn't stay because the company sent me to New York. I didn't _lie_."

"So why doesn't anybody know?"

"I told Chloe." Aubrey objected. "I swear I told Chloe."

Stacie frowned, momentarily thrown off her argument. "When?"

"When I left Chicago. When I told you I had to travel a lot for my job. I told you I was leaving Chicago." Aubrey argued.

Stacie hesitated, trying to recall when that could have happened. And she faintly remembered Chloe complaining that they should cancel their concert in Chicago for their winter tour because Aubrey wasn't going to be in town at the time, which had been the whole reason why they had even planned that stop. "I think… I think we always just thought those two things were related. You travel a lot; you weren't going to be in Chicago."

"That's not my fault." Aubrey quickly asserted.

"Okay, fair." Stacie acquiesced. "But if you were in New York, why weren't you at the finals of the ICCAs?"

Aubrey froze, eyes widening, before she quickly glanced away.

Shit.

 _Shit._

Stacie stared at the blonde, taking in the stiff posture, the reluctance to meet her eyes, the firm set of her jaw. She verbalized what was going through both their minds. "Shit." Dreading the answer, Stacie asked slowly, "You were there, weren't you?"

The stiff countenance lasted a long beat after before Aubrey sighed, her posture sagging, and she reluctantly turned to look at Stacie. "It's kind of hard to ignore an event I spent four years of my life working towards each year. And I wanted to see the Bellas win again."

Now Stacie was just confused. They had all just assumed that Aubrey had written them off when she remained noncommittal about showing up at Bella events. "Why didn't we know?"

"You didn't have to." Aubrey shrugged, in an exaggerated show of nonchalance, as if it was nothing for her to have been present at the ICCA finals and not have her friends know. "You won. Blew away competition, showed them last year wasn't a fluke."

"But why didn't you even…" Stacie frowned. "We would have liked to see you." More quietly, she added, " _I_ would have liked to see you."

There was a long pause, a long moment of the two of them looking at each other from opposite ends of the couch: Stacie searching Aubrey's expression for answers, and Aubrey discerning if she wanted to answer Stacie.

Finally, Aubrey answered. "You were busy."

What did that even-

"I think he was from the group from Berkeley." Aubrey continued, her voice flat with forced, unnerving calm.

Crap.

"Unless it was his twin brother from San Diego…"

Shit.

"I saw one of them with another girl, so at least I know you didn't have both of them…"

"Okay. Stop." Stacie interrupted, annoyed. But it was the kind of annoyance that came from having your faults pointed out to you, and you knew you weren't in the position to be defensive. So anger became the default. "You've made your point."

Aubrey sighed in concession. "It wasn't just you, okay? Chloe was third-wheeling with Beca and her boyfriend, and everyone was hanging out with the Treblemakers, and even Bumper was there. Honestly, I'm just glad you weren't busy with a Treble. And I was there with a friend, anyway, and we were meeting friends, so I just left."

Stacie still frowned.

"Look, there were clearly dynamics going on that I didn't understand, and I didn't want to mess with whatever was going on." Aubrey said frankly. "And honestly, Stacie, I'd really rather you'd… I'm just gonna say 'made out' with a random stranger than a Treblemaker."

"Really?"

"I mean, I get it, one-night stands could be a lot of fun. And sexually-transmitted infections can be treated. But knowing if you slept with one of those dirtballs never goes away."

Stacie had never been more relieved that the part of her that kept Aubrey in the back of her mind, and had made her fear that exact reaction, had kept her veering far from being sexually active with any of the Treblemakers. "Fine. And for the record? I'm clean, by the way."

Aubrey tilted her head to the side, face impassive, as she looked at Stacie. "Good to know."

Stacie arched an eyebrow, unimpressed at the lack of a reaction. "And you?"

"Same."

The brief exchange was the most frank and straightforward manner to establish, as if there had been any doubt before, that theirs was going to be a sexual relationship.

"So, do I hit the lights, or…" Stacie joked, breaking the tension, and succeeding in making Aubrey laugh.

"Not at work, please." Aubrey requested. She looked down at her sandwich, and bit into a still-whole corner. "Let's keep this professional."

Stacie rolled her eyes in an exaggerated show of compliance. She sighed loudly. "Fine."

"Thank you."

However, a question still remained. "So about this chain of command thing…"

Aubrey groaned.

"Aubrey, I'm an intern. I can leave if I want to. This is your _job_." Stacie reminded. "I'm pretty sure people started talking the minute I walked out of the elevator to have lunch, and that's just two college friends catching up."

"We _are_ two friends catching up." Aubrey defended.

Stacie gave her a look of wry skepticism.

"Who had dinner last night and another one tomorrow." Aubrey reluctantly acknowledged. Although honestly, if she had her way they would have dinner that night together, too, but she had a client call that evening. "Your point?"

"I refuse to have s- carry out this affair until you can tell me without any doubt that we're not breaking company policy."

Aubrey arched an eyebrow, well aware of just what Stacie had been about to say and the deliberate change of wording. "Oh, really? This is an affair now?"

Stacie nodded firmly, finishing her own sandwich and crumpling its wrapper into a ball. "Sex more than once makes it an affair, and I'm not risking your career just because the sex is awesome." She paused, realizing she was referring to an experience over a year old. "Or, you know, I assume the sex is still awesome. I mean, I find ways to get off anyway, and you're still hot and still _Aubrey_ , plus I almost mounted you on the elevator yesterday, and again in the bar… You haven't gotten selfish in bed, right?"

This time, it was Aubrey's turn to stare, her mind a blank.

"Because," Stacie continued, laughing lightly, if a little awkwardly, because _Aubrey was just staring_ , "your attention and focus, when related to sex? Kind of a turn-on. I mean, it's a turn on regardless, but that kind of single-minded focus, god, I think we discovered kinks I didn't know I had. And, trust me, I'm plenty-" She stopped herself - because how was Aubrey able to turn her into a blabbering mess? _Cuticle care and the E! network, for crying out loud_ \- and turned pleadingly at Aubrey. "Please start talking now."

Aubrey stared at her for another long beat, before she dropped her sandwich onto its paper wrapper. "I'm going to need you to leave."

Stacie frowned.

Aubrey took a deep breath. "I report directly to the VP of Ops, so I can find a way through any possible chain of command issue. But doing it in the office kind of breaks a _lot_ of rules on office conduct, and that's a lot harder to explain. Even if there are no security cameras in the room."

Stacie, whose frown had faded and replaced with a mischievous grin, arched an eyebrow at the last statement. "Is that so?"

"Stacie."

"So, is the issue a matter of conduct, or that's it's during office hours?"

Aubrey laughed. "Get out."

"No, this is a serious question."

"I bet it is."

"I mean, if there's no rhyme or reason for us to technically get caught…"

"Out."

Stacie pouted. "Is that how it is? I bring you lunch–"

"Which I paid you back for."

"And you just expect me to see myself out?" Stacie gasped in mock-affront. "You're a harsh lover, Aubrey Posen."

Aubrey rolled her eyes. "I have reservations for dinner tomorrow, so if you're done pretending to be insulted…"

Stacie laughed, handing her balled-up sandwich wrapper to Aubrey, who automatically took it, and got to her feet. "Back to work, then." Once she reached the door to Aubrey's office, Stacie glanced over her shoulder at Aubrey. "So, like, since you're gonna be sort of my boss, does that technically put me _under_ you, because—"

"Out."


	6. Chapter 6

"You know, you're supposed to bring me to your place at the end of the date," Stacie noted, leaning against the door jamb, watching Aubrey search her purse for the keys to her temporary living abode, the company-issued apartment she was staying in while she was in Philadelphia. "Not before."

Aubrey gave her a weary glance. "Those of us issued a company laptop have to sign five pages worth of extra security policies, so you just shush over there, intern."

Stacie rolled her eyes even as she laughed. "Five pages?"

"All the many ways you can say 'I solemnly swear I will not look for porn and send or download illegal files using my company computer'." Aubrey informed her, breathing a sigh of relief when she found her keys. She opened the door, and gestured Stacie inside. "Welcome to my crib."

Short of entering the room, Stacie stopped abruptly, and turned to face Aubrey. She shook her head solemnly. "Don't ever say that again."

"No?"

Stacie shook her head.

Aubrey pouted, and motioned for Stacie to continue inside. She closed the door behind them.

"It's…" Stacie glanced around the cream-colored room and its generic décor, the lack of personal touches. She glanced at Aubrey, who was stowing the laptop into a safe inside one of the cabinets, and shrugged. "Bare?"

"It's very spartan, I know. Living allowance doesn't cover interior design, unfortunately." Aubrey informed her, once she'd locked the safe and returned to a standing position. She pointed at the couch, the back of which Stacie was leaning against. "But that couch is really comfortable."

Stacie ignored the statement, opting instead to cross her arms, bringing up a topic they had been discussing before they made their detour. "You made reservations at a restaurant within walking distance of the office?"

"It came highly recommended."

"The people you talk to at work are either married, or middle-aged single men and women who don't date." Stacie remarked.

"You don't know that." Aubrey defended, although the assumption was probably true. "And I got it off Yelp."

"I'm sure Yelp's clientele would be glad you take their recommendations seriously." Stacie said, deadpan. "But have you forgotten our power dynamics, here?"

Aubrey paused, confused. "I'm not really into—"

"We're _coworkers_." Stacie reminded.

"Oh, is this because you're an intern?"

"Because you're Oversight!" Stacie reminded. "I looked at the org chart, and maybe we're not on the same chain of command, but your boss is in charge of pretty much anything that's not Marketing or Sales, so technically, you're kind of my boss."

"No I'm not." Aubrey scoffed. "We're not even in the same company."

"Aubrey!"

"Stacie." Aubrey returned, much more calmly than Stacie would have liked. "I told you: I can work around the chain of command."

"What, because you help make up the rules, you can just break them?" Stacie asked wearily.

"Partly." Aubrey admitted, but quickly added: "No rule breaking necessary, I promise."

Stacie eyed her skeptically.

"Come on," Aubrey motioned to herself. "Look at who you're talking to."

"Being a stickler for rules doesn't make you above and beyond them." Stacie reminded.

Aubrey shrugged, acquiescing to Stacie's point, but explained her standpoint. "We don't fall under the same hierarchy. Parent company or not, our positions and departments are so far removed structurally the only way it will become an issue is if you sue me for harassment, which—"

"Don't?" Stacie guessed, smiling despite herself.

"Please don't." Aubrey nodded. "And what I'm really doing is reviewing the documentation _process_ , not spearheading the documentation project you're a part of. I don't even need to be aware that your team's way behind schedule on completing the project."

"And you know all this for a fact?"

"That you're delayed, or the fact that we can date without repercussions?"

Stacie smirked. "So we're officially dating, now?"

Aubrey gave her a wry look. "You told me to look at the rules. I did. I scoured the employee code for every loophole."

"The lengths one would go through just to get laid," Stacie observed, amused.

"I usually prefer dinner and dancing, but you obviously have a higher standard." Aubrey noted dryly.

"Dinner and dancing are so passé," Stacie quipped, taking hold of Aubrey by her waist and pulled her closer. "You know I'm a sure thing, right?"

"Can't really say," Aubrey replied, gliding her hands up Stacie's arms to rest on her shoulders. "You were pretty adamant about skipping out on sex if it was against company policy."

"No, I was skipping out on sex _more than once_ , if it was against company policy." Stacie corrected.

"Well, it isn't." Aubrey reminded. She smiled weakly. "Hooray."

"Yay." Stacie grinned. "Which brings us to our next order of business."

"Seriously: dinner and dancing." Aubrey insisted.

Stacie rolled her eyes. "The post-date kiss."

"What happened to being a sure thing?" Aubrey questioned curiously.

Stacie groaned in exasperation. "Why are you so difficult."

"I had to ask _permission_ from my boss to date an intern, okay, and I'm pretty sure she's still going to be laughing at my annual performance review in a few months." Aubrey said defensively.

Stacie paused, and looked at Aubrey in concern. "You told your boss?"

Aubrey nodded in resignation. "We're clear on company policy, but it's still ethically questionable. I'm going to need someone on my back, just in case."

"And what did she say?" Stacie asked.

"Other than laughing?" Aubrey returned. She shook her head and pouted. "She told me I should make you sign a waiver."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

Stacie rolled her eyes again, but pulled Aubrey closer to give her a hug, because she knew from experience – and from generally being acquainted with Aubrey – that the blonde hated having to reveal more than she thought necessary, especially regarding her personal business. "I'm sorry."

Aubrey relaxed into the embrace, wrapping her arms around Stacie's neck. She exhaled. "It's the job."

They stood there for a long moment, letting the whole matter of Aubrey's admission sink in, because they both knew that _that_ made things a little more real, now. It wasn't just a mild flirtation between friends, or picking up where they had once left off, or the thrill of a possibly-illicit tryst between coworkers.

And Stacie once again made the effort to cut through the tension. "Now, about that kiss…"

With a long-suffering sigh of exasperation, Aubrey pulled back to look at Stacie, who immediately covered the gap between them to cut off whatever Aubrey was about to say.

The move was opportunistic, almost aggressive, but the kiss itself was gentle, Stacie quickly tempering her impulsive move with a languid patience she did not entirely feel. Stacie loosened her arms around Aubrey, her hands drifting down to hold the other girl by the small of her back, keeping her in place but not pushing for closer contact, taking the moment to revel in being able to do this again, of once again being this close to Aubrey.

Stacie gently eased off the kiss, pulling back with an expression that betrayed exactly how infinitely pleased she was with herself, and looked up at Aubrey with an amused smile. "You were about to say-?"

Aubrey huffed out an exasperated breath, before cupping the back of Stacie's head to pull her back in, their lips meeting eagerly.

The kiss was more forceful, intense, wanting more and never quite getting enough. It was impatient, and needy, and almost desperate in the way neither of them would relinquish control of the kiss. Aubrey pulled Stacie in closer, while Stacie's hands tightened their grip on the back of Aubrey's top.

Stacie broke the kiss, pressing her forehead to Aubrey's, their lips barely a breath apart. Panting harshly, Stacie spoke, with her lips just barely brushing against Aubrey's. "I'm not gonna lie: that kind of controlling behavior makes me feel kinda torn about the fact that you're not my boss."

Aubrey had to smile, pecking Stacie's lips again. "Funny, because I remember that you hate me when I'm bossy."

"Still kind of a turn on," Stacie admitted.

"I _do_ like the control," Aubrey confessed, once more sharing a quick kiss with the other girl. "Still want to question my attention to detail?"

"Your attention to detail _is_ pretty hot," Stacie agreed, grazing her lips against Aubrey's briefly before moving down to press her lips against Aubrey's clavicle, slowly tracing kisses up her neck to her pulse point, before whispering into the blonde's ear, "but I was really looking forward to sleeping with the boss."

"Sorry to disappoint." Aubrey murmured, cupping Stacie's cheek to turn her head and brush their lips together once more.

After a series of light, playful kisses, Stacie grinned into their kiss. "Never a disappointment."

"Good to know."

"But I'm still gonna say I banged my boss."

Aubrey groaned, which had nothing to do with her desire, and pulled back to create enough distance for her to give Stacie a stern look. "Seriously, I'm not your-"

Stacie returned Aubrey's look with one of her own. "Saying I banged a member of the Oversight Committee doesn't have the same ring to it."

Aubrey conceded that point. But still. She forced down every bit of her that wanted to abandon the topic and just go right back to the kissing, and tried to get her point across. "Stacie, seriously, you can't go around saying you banged your boss."

Stacie lifted an eyebrow. "HR?"

Aubrey nodded.

"What, will Oversight try and come after me?" Stacie asked innocently. "'Cause I know I can make at least one of them come _before_ me."

Aubrey groaned in exasperation. "Stacie."

"Fine." Stacie gave out an exaggerated sigh. "I guess that means I can't post on social media how much fun it is to top the woman on top?"

"I'm hardly the—"

Stacie grinned wickedly, making Aubrey stop abruptly.

"That's not…" Aubrey frowned.

"You like being on top. Admit it." Stacie reminded. "Because I totally recall you—"

"Yes, fine." Aubrey cut her off, shaking her head. "But don't go around telling people you're sleeping with a coworker; I'm still middle management and you're still an intern. My boss has my back, but HR still tends to frown at that kind of thing."

"Aww, do they pout and look adorable trying to be disapproving?" Stacie teased.

Aubrey rolled her eyes, knowing just who exactly Stacie was implicating. "No, that's Oversight."

Stacie laughed, and motioned her head in the direction of the couch behind her. "So just how comfy is this couch, Aubrey?"

"Our reservation's for seven-thirty." Aubrey warned, even as she allowed Stacie to lead her around the couch so they could sit on it together, side by side and facing each other.

Stacie made a dismissive sound, closing the distance between them on the couch. "It's early. And the place is what, a fifteen-minute walk away?" She cracked a mischievous grin. "I can think of more productive ways to spend that time."

Aubrey tried valiantly to resist, even as her traitorous hands reacquainted themselves with Stacie's body, drawing the dark-haired girl closer. She still made a token protest: "We're gonna miss our reservation."

"No we won't."

Two hours later, naked and taking a breather from having thoroughly tested just how comfortable the couch was, it was impossible to deny one simple fact: they had missed their reservation.

And Stacie, champion of getting off and getting dressed, turned to the woman on the couch beside her and broke one of her cardinal rules when it came to sex. "What are you thinking?"

Aubrey, who lay partly on top of Stacie and had been idly tracing patterns on Stacie's collarbone, looked up at the younger woman. "We missed our reservation."

Stacie rolled her eyes. "Yeah."

Whatever Aubrey was about to say next got lost when Stacie's stomach rumbled. Loudly. Loud enough to startle both girls. Stacie grabbed one of the couch's throw pillows and tried to hide her face under it while Aubrey started giggling. "Guess we shouldn't have missed that reservation."

"Oh my God, ignore that." Stacie groaned, mortified.

"Pretty hard to ignore," Aubrey laughed.

"I only had a light lunch." Stacie reasoned. She had gone to the office cafeteria with her fellow interns and only had a salad, which could have used a lot of improvement. She'll admit, she had idly wondered during lunch if complaining to a representative from Oversight about the salad would help. "So yeah, I'm hungry."

"Obviously."

Stacie lightly smacked Aubrey's shoulder with her hand. "Hey, don't make fun of the girl willing to have sex with you."

"Yeah, but apparently she's a sure thing." Aubrey teased, earning herself another swat. Laughing, Aubrey lifted herself up, resting on her elbows on either side of Stacie and pulling the pillow from Stacie's face. "You know, if we were in New York, I'd know where to go for a late dinner."

"Lucky for you, around here, I do." Stacie replied. "But we have a problem."

Aubrey sighed in resignation. "Leaving the couch?"

"And clothes."

They looked at each other, trying to gauge just how essential food was for them at the moment, silently debating if it was important enough to leave their current positions for.

The last time this happened, they had the luxury of room service.

Aubrey groaned, and reluctantly pushed herself off Stacie to start gathering her clothes. "Next time, we're stocking up."

"Bright side," Stacie offered, taking her blouse that Aubrey handed her but not putting it on, "we'll have more carbs to burn."

Aubrey hummed in agreement.

Stacie watched Aubrey run her fingers through her hair, trying to get it back to a semblance of normalcy, blouse half-buttoned and skirt askew, looking deliciously debauched, and made an executive decision. "They deliver."

Aubrey laughed and turned back to her, already starting to discard her top. "Oh thank God."

It took them another half-hour to make the call, and occupied the time waiting for the food to arrive the same way they had missed their reservation, before finally separating long enough to eat dinner and keep the dishes afterwards. They somehow finally end up in bed, continuing what they had started on the couch, and Stacie won't deny that the part of her that still worried about the complexity of sleeping with a coworker also got off on having sex with said coworker on a bed in a company-issued apartment, and might have been a bit over-enthusiastic because of it.

She will say this: all that cardio Aubrey insisted the Bellas do? Really beneficial.

Sated and exhausted, the two women lay on the bed, Stacie on her stomach, relishing the cool sheets that was obviously covered by Aubrey's living allowance, enjoying the softness of the fabric on her cheek and its coolness a comfort to her sweat-slicked and overheated body, and glanced to her side, where Aubrey was gazing at the ceiling, her expression unreadable. "If you look that perplexed, I must've done something extremely kinky." She teased with as much humor as she could, given how merely speaking was an effort.

Aubrey slowly blinked, before she turned her head to face Stacie. "I have a conference call at seven."

Not among the list of things Stacie had thought Aubrey would say. And, had she seriously been thinking about work in the afterglow?

Aubrey went on to elaborate, ignorant of Stacie's thoughts. "The internet here is worthless, so I'll have to go to the office. It's a client conference, so I'm not really expected to contribute, but who knows how long it will last – do I want to have just coffee, or should I have breakfast, too? Because if I have breakfast, that means I would have eaten, and not you, and you obviously like to get fed after sex, but by the time the call is over it'll be closer to lunch, and none of the places around here serve a decent brunch menu. If we have breakfast _before_ my call, that'll be, what, five-thirty? What kind of monster wakes you up after sex that amazing at five-thirty AM? So, again: brunch. I could cook, but I don't really have anything in the fridge but leftovers, and if I had eggs, I could cook you breakfast. But I don't, so I can't, and I don't want to drive you home on an empty stomach and-" the rest of the tirade got lost in Stacie's mouth, having covered Aubrey's once it had been established that the point of focus of Aubrey's train of thought had been feeding Stacie in the morning and not, in fact, work-related.

But that last effort of covering the distance between herself and Aubrey had expended all of Stacie's energy, and Aubrey wasn't much better, which prevented them from escalating things further.

In the end, Aubrey had to break the kiss to turn and turn off her bedside lamp, but not before checking her phone to make sure she'd set an alarm.

Stacie curled up against Aubrey, who wrapped her arms around her.

They don't mention it, but they really shouldn't be thinking about how perfectly they fit together.


	7. Chapter 7

Having never been alone in a car with Aubrey driving before, and given how high strung Aubrey tended to be in her daily life, it was surprising to discover that the blonde was perfectly at ease behind the wheel, if a little too happy pressing on the gas. Aubrey was relaxed, and cheerful, and the radio was tuned in to some local college radio station – actually, it was stuck (or Aubrey had no idea how to work the radio and just refused to admit it) – but Aubrey was singing along with Stacie to fairly recent music (by Aubrey's standards), so Stacie counted it as a win.

After Aubrey's conference call that morning, they had picked up some takeout to eat in the car, and Stacie's not going to lie: the fact that Aubrey didn't mind food in the car was another big surprise. And she said as much, around a mouthful of fries.

Aubrey glanced at her, amused. "Chloe and I used to drive around Georgia town limits all the time. She says the best way to get to know a place is by its food, and around the fifth or fifteenth time she insisted on buying something from every stop within a certain distance to do a comparative test, I kind of just had to give in."

"Never figured you to be someone who couldn't say no to Chloe."

Aubrey scoffed. "Beca's a Bella, isn't she?"

"Yeah, but that's different." Stacie pointed out.

Aubrey shrugged. "Have _you_ ever tried to say no to Chloe?"

Stacie paused to consider, and realized that she couldn't remember a single moment in which she or any of the people she knew had been able to refuse Chloe Beale anything, be it a favor or a dare, or something even more outrageous. "Good point." She pointed. "Turn right here."

The neighborhood of Stacie's home was full of tree-lined streets and mid-sized homes, a complete and utter picture of suburbia that Aubrey had to glance over at Stacie in mild bemusement. "Does your life come with its own voice-over?"

Stacie gave her a withering glare. "Says the girl who I bet was Prom Queen."

"Prom Royalty. Never Prom Queen." Aubrey admitted. "I was never popular enough and I was usually too busy to campaign properly. That, and I think someone just kept nominating me to see what I would do."

Stacie stared at her. "Oh my God I was kidding."

Aubrey shot her a glare.

"Prom royalty and show choir." Stacie drawled, regarding the woman beside her with fond amusement. "I bet you were all AP classes and honor roll and dated the quarterback."

Aubrey rolled her eyes. "Honor roll and lacrosse captain."

Stacie smirked. "You're like an actual female lead in a high school show on The CW."

"I wasn't nearly interesting enough in high school." Aubrey noted dryly.

"Yeah, I bet being perfect made you a total bore."

Aubrey gave her a quick glance before turning back to the front of the car, and when Stacie tried, she couldn't accurately read Aubrey's expression. In a voice that took away most of the lightheartedness of their exchange, Aubrey said quietly, "Trust me, I'm not even _close_ to perfect."

Stacie studied Aubrey closely, confused at the abrupt turn of their conversation. "Aubrey…"

Aubrey glanced at her.

"If I said something wrong-"

Aubrey sighed, and shook her head, even as she turned back to the windshield. "It's my stuff. You didn't know."

Stacie studied her for a beat longer, trying to discern if Aubrey really meant to move past the awkwardness or was merely letting her off the hook. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really."

Fair enough. "If you ever do, I'm always willing to hear it."

Aubrey gave her a brief smile. "Thanks."

She was willing to wait Aubrey out, but a part of Stacie wondered if Chloe knew. She cleared her throat as an indication that she was moving on with the discussion. "It's _Pennsylvania_ , we all know how stereotypically suburban it could be."

"And I notice you're not denying the voice-over." Aubrey pointed out in agreement, grateful to Stacie for resuming an earlier, less-sensitive point in their conversation.

"Yeah, and right now I'm wondering why I find you so attractive." Stacie retorted. She pointed to a house further down the street indicating her home.

Aubrey raised an eyebrow, glancing over at Stacie. She guessed, "List of pros and cons?"

"Rhetorical." Stacie answered. "You're hot, I'm hot, and we're hot together. I'm much more shallow than my voice-over."

"I like you more than your voice-over, then." Aubrey commented. She glanced to her side to share a quick smile with Stacie.

When Aubrey turned back to focus on parking the car, Stacie's gaze remained on Aubrey; much like her imaginary voice-over, she wondered why she was so drawn to the other woman, and what it was she expected from Aubrey. Because for all their flirting and unquestionable mutual attraction (and orgasmic sexual chemistry), they had once forgone the possibility of a relationship due to their circumstances, and even now there were a lot of questions pertaining to what, exactly, their relationship was.

Once the car engine was off, Aubrey turned to Stacie. "So…"

"Nickel tour?" Stacie offered. She jerked her head in the direction of the back seat, where the rest of their takeout sat in brown paper bags, and grinned. "Lunch included."

Aubrey laughed. "Deal."

After dropping off the food on the dining table, Stacie gave a tour that probably cost less than a nickel, stopping in front of the stairs, and gesturing vaguely - "first floor," - before pausing at the top of the stairway, pointing at one end, "Mom's room," and pulling Aubrey towards the door at the opposite end of the hallway. In front of her room, however, Stacie stopped short at the door, and turned to Aubrey, tentative.

Aubrey waited.

Stacie stared at Aubrey for a long moment, while Aubrey wondered what she was being scrutinized for; and just as she had years ago as a freshman under the Barden Bellas' discerning gaze, Aubrey hoped she was enough.

"I know we were joking around earlier, about you being Prom Royalty and all that other stuff," Stacie began hesitantly, "but we both know you would have hated me in high school."

Aubrey stayed silent, because in the past year, she had become self-aware enough to know Stacie probably had a point. She knew Chloe and the rest of the Barden Bellas had helped immensely in calming her and easing her personality; and if Stacie in college – fun, academically-inclined, and friendly with everyone – was anything to go by, Aubrey's envy of how easy life was for Stacie would definitely have caused her to act negatively towards the younger woman.

"Right." Stacie paused, and bit her lip. "I really need you not to laugh if I let you in."

Aubrey smiled wryly. "Is it worse than show choir?"

Stacie smiled back, acknowledging the rejoinder. While she still felt hesitant, she reached behind her and turned the knob to her door.

They had described the company-issued apartment as spartan and bare, the walls and furniture clean of any personalized items, but what Aubrey had failed to mention the previous evening was that her entire life, the rooms she had occupied weren't too far off. There had been cork boards and whiteboards and other places where she pinned reminders and ideas on, and growing up she had a shelf in her bedroom where she could put books and awards on; but other than that? Her father had often reminded her that an orderly space was a sign of an orderly mind, and too many personal items was to invite others insight on any potential weakness.

Stacie's room was pretty much the exact opposite of that. There was something to see and look at in every corner, the walls were adorned with different posters, including blueprints of what looked like a nuclear submarine _and_ a nuclear power plant, and even the ceiling was adorned with glow in the dark stickers of constellations. A shelf on the wall nearest to the door was filled with knick-knacks of different varieties and interests, including a pretty chemical garden. In a corner was another shelf, this one on the brink of collapse, filled to bursting with books.

Aubrey gazed around the room in awe, for so many reasons. First and foremost being that _this_ must be what it was like to have free reign on how to decorate one's room; and even if her father's adage held true, that personal items were indicative of someone's weaknesses, it would be hard to pinpoint Stacie's, because there was just _so much to look at_. Aubrey wanted to know everything there was to know about the room, while also aware that she could sit in this room for hours and she wouldn't even come close to figuring Stacie Conrad out.

Aubrey approached the nearest shelf, glancing over the different items on the shelf, wondering the story behind each piece, before fixing her gaze on the chemical garden, which looked vibrant in its glass case. She pointed at it, turning to question Stacie, "How do these work, anyway?"

"Solid metal salts, and aqueous sodium silicate." Stacie explained.

Aubrey nodded, despite having absolutely no idea what those were or how those two things formed a chemical garden. Science had never been her thing.

Stacie watched her for a long moment, before noting, "You're not laughing."

"This is amazing." Aubrey told her, looking away from the glass, and turning to Stacie. "I can totally see why you're having a difficult time deciding on a concentration."

Stacie lifted an eyebrow.

Aubrey motioned to the room. "If this is any indication, anything less than everything wouldn't be enough for you."

Stacie still looked skeptical. There was no way this was impressing _Aubrey_. "Underneath this hot exterior is a nerd, Aubrey."

Aubrey, who had strayed to the book shelf, shot her a glance. "And I audited _Math Theory_."

This was a very good point.

Stacie watched Aubrey pick a book from the shelf and flip through its pages, before snapping it shut so she can read the back cover. "Did you see the Lord of the Rings DVDs in the corner?"

"My roommate has a boxed set." Aubrey said dismissively, before lifting the book in her hands. "Can I borrow this?"

Stacie frowned, confused. "How is all of this – how is _any of this_ impressing you?"

Aubrey turned and faced Stacie. "Because this is… this is just the tip of the iceberg of who you are. How can I not be…" She paused, and when she saw the complete puzzlement on Stacie's face, tilted her head to the side. "Do you really have no idea how impressive you are?"

"I'm not the girl one year out of college and in middle management of a multinational." Stacie countered.

"No," Aubrey agreed. "But that's hard work and a ton of luck." She again indicated their surroundings. "This? You understand these things: All of it. You can pick any Science concentration and you're probably going to be amazing at it. You were accepted to Georgia Tech but Barden offered you full academic scholarship, and you're actually _keeping it_ , maintaining the required GPA, all while giving absolutely _zero indication_ how hard your classes were when most, maybe all, of your friends were either undeclared or have Liberal Arts majors. You're well-liked, and you're kind, and you're an integral part of an actually-competitive Barden Bellas." Aubrey reminded. "I made the mistake of dismissing you once because I thought 'cuticle care and the E! network' were shallow pursuits, but I watch ensemble movies and enjoyed _Twilight_ , so I know those were a small fraction of who you are, and I learn from my mistakes, and I want to—" She stopped abruptly, catching herself, and glanced away, turning to the shelf of personal effects. "I want to know the stories behind everything in this room."

"And I'm hot."

Aubrey paused, confused, and turned back to Stacie. "Okay…?"

"If you're listing things that make me impressive. You didn't mention that I'm hot."

Aubrey shrugged. "That's probably eighty percent genetics, and twenty percent personal grooming. That's hardly impressive, Anastasia."

Stacie gawked at her. "Did you just-?"

"Full name you? Yes."

Stacie gasped in offense. "How dare you, Twilight fan. I bet you were Team Edward."

"You would lose that bet."

"But those books were awful!"

"Oh, absolutely." Aubrey agreed offhand. "I liked the movies."

Stacie stared at her. "Not much better. How can you be this hot and be this bibliothecally repulsive?"

"As I said, I hated the books. I think you mean cinematically-repulsive." Aubrey corrected.

" _You read the books?_ " Stacie demanded incredulously.

"Chloe swore by those books." Aubrey said defensively.

Stacie stopped short, and couldn't help the absolute glee inside on having something over her Bellas captain. "Chloe likes Twilight?"

"And it took months of debate for us to agree on being Team Jacob, and don't ever mention the whole imprint ending with her, because she will cut a bitch for that." Aubrey told her. "She maintains _Breaking Dawn_ doesn't exist."

Stacie blinked, aghast. "I can't believe I let you touch me."

"In my defense, I don't own the movies and only really saw them once. I doubt they hold up on repeat viewings." Aubrey noted. "And Taylor Lautner being shirtless can only entertain for so long."

Stacie snorted, and rolled her eyes. "I must really like you; because despite your complete and devastating failings as a consumer of movies, books, _or_ music, I still want you."

"And I'm supposed to ignore the John Green novels in your book shelf?"

Stacie's eyes widened, and she shot a glance in the shelf's direction as if to glare at it for its betrayal, before she turned back to Aubrey, hastening to defend herself. "I can explain that."

Aubrey smiled in amusement, her skepticism apparent. "Truce?"

Knowing she'd been caught out, Stacie sighed in defeat, and nodded. "Yes." She crooked her finger to motion Aubrey to come closer. "How are we only finding this out about each other?"

"We spent our only year together in comfortable silences." Aubrey reminded, slowly approaching Stacie.

"And you yelling at us during Bellas rehearsals." Stacie added, reaching out when Aubrey stopped in front of her and pulling the other girl closer.

Aubrey conceded that point. "We don't really know that much about each other." She indicated the room with a slight tilt of her head. "That's partly why your room fascinates me."

"Only partly?"

Aubrey nodded. "You grew up here. This is the part of the world that's entirely yours." She stepped even closer to Stacie and leaned up to brush their lips together. "It makes me want to stay here for a while."

"Take your time." Stacie replied, responding to the kiss, taking the book from Aubrey's hands and dropping it to the floor, freeing Aubrey's hands, before wrapping her own arms around Aubrey's waist. "Stay as long as you want."

Not surprisingly, the part of Stacie's room Aubrey most wanted to explore was its owner, and Stacie had never been more thankful that she'd taken her mom up on her offer to upgrade what used to be a single bed, before she'd come home that summer. Although she really hopes her mom never finds out just how Stacie was breaking in her new bed, or how Stacie was breaking the very explicit rule of not having sex under their shared roof.

But it's there – sharing a pillow on the bed in Stacie's childhood room, surrounded by her things and telling the story of some of the items that made up _Stacie Conrad_ – that Stacie realized for the first time, in an epiphany so clear and certain, that unlike last time, she's not so willing to let Aubrey go this time around.

Even if she's unsure of everything else that means.


	8. Chapter 8

She got it now.

Stacie had always heard, but never quite understood, the adage that whenever you have sex with someone, you're having sex with everyone they've ever slept with. She definitely didn't get why some people thought was a negative thing. After all, wasn't that the point? Practice made perfect, and the more people you have sex with, the more experience you got to make it more pleasurable for yourself and your partners. That was just logic.

And it started that way, Stacie's amusement that super-uptight, super-conservative, _super-vanilla_ Aubrey Posen was willing to match her every whim in bed, displaying a wealth of knowledge and stamina that Stacie doubted she would ever take for granted. If Stacie was the kind to kiss and tell (totally, but she doubted the Bellas would approve… also _HR_ and _fraternization policies_ ), she would be bragging to everyone how she was having outstanding sex with Aubrey Posen.

But then in the quiet of her home, basking in her bedroom and reminiscing of the afternoon she and Aubrey had spent in it, Stacie found herself a victim of her brain's tendency to focus on points of interest, this time on Aubrey in particular, and her mind turned against her, pointing out the difference between the first time she'd slept with Aubrey and the past two days.

And she hates the way her brain starts coming up with comparisons, because Stacie had thought about the night of Aubrey's graduation fairly often during the past year, and Friday night and Saturday afternoon were pretty fresh memories, and she just loathes just how objectively she can examine both experiences.

No, not loathe. _Hate_. She _hates_ that her mind can be objective about this.

About how Aubrey had wanted to touch and explore every inch of Stacie she was given access to, but be so tentative and unsure in one experience – her first time with another woman – and be so aggressive and decisive in another, one year later. Her priority was still to ensure Stacie's satisfaction, and she still liked to watch Stacie's face to see it happen, but in more recent experience, she just _knew_ , the look on her face less wonderment – that she was the one being able to touch, to do things _with_ and _to_ Stacie – and more expectant, waiting for Stacie to come, as if fully confident in her ability to make it happen.

Because Stacie knew exactly how much they had covered from their hotel rendezvous one year ago, and knew _exactly_ what Aubrey knew about sex with women.

She might have had written Aubrey off as the one who got away, but she'd taken some measure of comfort in being part of Aubrey's sexual awakening, such as it were, and sometimes amused herself by thinking that she could even call herself an expert on lesbian sex with Aubrey Posen.

She didn't even know if she was the _leading_ expert on lesbian sex with Aubrey.

And it's not even like she didn't think Aubrey had sex with people other than her. Of course Aubrey did, the girl was hot. It just never occurred to her that she'd had opinions about it, much less have _feelings_ about Aubrey having sex with other people.

So she knows. She gets it now. She understood what it meant, why you were having sex with everyone your partner had ever had sex with.

And why it wasn't the positive building experience she had always thought it would be.

She wasn't going to cry over something as stupid as Aubrey sleeping with someone – anyone – else, and she can honestly say she most definitely didn't, but it was a close call.

But she does the next stupid thing.

"How many?"

Aubrey, who she knew was attending to her weekly chores of groceries and laundry – chores she had ignored doing in favor of spending time with Stacie on Saturday – and sounded genuinely confused over the phone when posed with that question. "Sorry?"

"Between your graduation and last Friday. I need to know how many people you've slept with."

"Why?"

"So we can do a collective high five and compare notes," Stacie deadpanned. "Why do you think?"

"I don't understand how that's relevant."

"I need to know."

"You _want_ to know." Aubrey corrected. "And I don't think you really do."

"Please, Aubrey." Stacie had never been so invested in anyone's sexual history before, and it was a new and honestly frightening experience.

Aubrey sighed. "You don't know what you're asking, Stacie."

"The Hunter wants to know how many people he's competing with, so give it up, Aubrey."

The sharp tone in Aubrey's voice when she spoke again told Stacie she'd hit a nerve. "Of course you're thinking with your crotch. Do you want it alphabetically, or chronological? I don't have all their contact information, can you live with just their names and dates?"

 _Names._ And _dates._ It was in plural form. Stacie hated all of them. But she also knew that Aubrey was right: she _wanted_ to know, while at the same time she really didn't. In a voice a lot more conciliatory, because she really didn't want to fight over this – she would lose, and she knew it – she asked, "Is there anyone now?"

"No." Aubrey sighed again, more resigned. "Just you."

 _Just you_. Like it should mean something, but Stacie was familiar with the concept of a summer fling, and was more than aware that Aubrey had given no indication on whether or not their current relationship, such as it were, was even one. And Stacie, as much as she wasn't ready or willing to let Aubrey go without a fight, and knew for certain that she wanted Aubrey, wasn't really sure if what she wanted was a _relationship_. "Okay, but what is this, Aubrey? What do you want from me?"

Aubrey exhaled, and in that moment Stacie knew that Aubrey didn't have the answers, either. "I don't know. Us spending time together? Making up for lost time? I don't know, Stacie. But right now? I want you to be the girl who sat with me in the library, the girl who offered me coffee when you could tell I was having a bad day."

"We weren't sleeping together then." Stacie reminded quietly.

There was absolute silence that greeted that assertion, and Stacie briefly wondered if Aubrey had hung up, until Aubrey asked, "what do you want me to say, Stacie?"

Stacie had no idea. She didn't want to ask questions she didn't really want answers to, to push Aubrey for answers that probably weren't there, or for Aubrey to make denials. She had no idea what she did and didn't want from Aubrey, but she also knew she didn't want things to end prematurely because she had questions, so she changed tack. "Do you want to go out for lunch tomorrow? Or do you have a meeting?"

"Stacie—"

"I don't think this is a conversation we should have over the phone, Aubrey."

Aubrey, at least, seemed to agree with that point. "I have conference call every Monday morning, and that can sometimes go through lunch. Dinner?"

"Okay. But I can't stay out late, though. There's some kind of training thing on Tuesday morning."

"The briefing on your documentation project, right." Aubrey recalled. "We can be early. The conference is pretty much a week-long version of my EOB calls to my boss, so we skip it on Mondays; it shouldn't be a problem."

Stacie arched an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"

"Sure."

Stacie rolled her eyes, because that answer was not particularly convincing.

"It's fine, Stacie. Like I said, we skip it anyway, I can leave work at a normal hour."

"And you know that the fact that I have to get to work early on Tuesday means we won't get to the fun stuff, right?"

"We'll see." Aubrey observed.

Stacie couldn't help but grin, because she definitely wouldn't mind if they did.

Except they don't.

For two straight days of having dinner after work, after their meal Aubrey walked Stacie to her bus stop, seemingly completely ignorant of the fact that doing so directly led to a significant lack in any kind of sexual activity. But it's not like Aubrey had completely shut her out, Stacie could see Aubrey was trying, and they still stole kisses and held hands and all those other things that made up a dating relationship, but the point remained: they weren't having sex. And Stacie wondered what had happened between Saturday afternoon, which they spent lounging in her room, and Tuesday night, when Aubrey completely ignored an obvious hint for an invitation to her place, courtesy of Stacie "suddenly" remembering she'd "forgotten" her phone charger in Aubrey's apartment, and merely offered to bring it to Stacie the next day.

It's frustrating. It's annoying, and rude, and just mean, which led Stacie into making the second worst decision she'd ever made, second only to confronting Aubrey about her sexual past.

Looking over her Skype contact list, she wasn't surprised to see only Beca was online, given the hour – early morning for Stacie, _very_ late night/early morning for Beca, who had probably been up all night working on her mixes – and took a moment to pause and consider what she was about to do.

Her friends in high school had all been boys, fellow nerds who had no romantic interest in her (or anyone, it had seemed); and especially after her growth spurt and developed a figure, she'd steered clear of girls her age, because those she'd gone to high school with had either hated her on principle, or hated her because their boyfriends had been… _expressive_ of their admiration for Stacie's post-puberty body. And she had no doubt that her friends had grown past being asexual high school boys, but she was also still pretty sure that they were lousy at the whole dating scene.

So when it came to things like sex and dating, she had no choice but to confide in the Barden Bellas. Which was a whole other set of complications.

Chloe was their den mother, the mother hen, and while she could probably offer the best advice when it came to sex and dating, especially considering _this_ particular point of Stacie's concern, Chloe was also really nosy and lacked tact, and would confide in their friends, using unsubtle clues that she was talking about Stacie. Fat Amy approached sex and dating much like Stacie did, and tended to discard her boy toys fairly easily, and her most complicated relationship was with _Bumper Allen_ , so not very complicated at all. The problem was that Fat Amy not only had absolutely no filter, but was also relentless when given enough of a challenge, and probably wouldn't stop badgering Stacie until she gave up a name. Cynthia Rose would want far too many intimate details and probably hint that Stacie should dump whomever and be willing to "comfort" her. Lilly was just terrifying.

(And would probably know all the details of Stacie's ongoing non-relationship in a flash, including credit card numbers, and would definitely find the name of Stacie's current dating partner, so definitely not Lilly.)

Jessica had already begged Stacie not to share stories of her sexcapades after the fifth time Stacie had over-shared on some of the people they had classes with; both Denise and Ashley already suspected something more than just sleeping had happened their first night at the Bella house between herself and Aubrey, and would probably easily figure out just who could be causing Stacie such atypical turmoil, and Stacie really needed to keep Aubrey's involvement out of the discussion for now. And from what she could tell, Flo's reference point for romance and dating seemed to be teen dramas and telenovelas.

Which left Beca, who was usually too uncomfortable having to deal with being confided in on anything beyond recommendations for music, so she could make as good a sounding board as any, if Stacie just needed to bounce ideas off someone. And if she received some kind of advice in the process, well, that wouldn't be so bad.

"Hey, working girl." Beca greeted when she accepted the call. "How's Philly?"

"Pennsylvania's great. LA?"

"Beach scene's okay. The clubs are better. Between Fat Amy and Cynthia Rose, seems like there's nowhere we can't get into." Beca reported. "What's up?"

"What does it mean to go from sex to zero almost overnight?"

Beca sputtered, taken off-guard by the question, and looked around her quickly before turning back to Stacie. "Why would you ask- It wasn't _bad_ , and maybe I just don't feel like sex is that important in a relationship, okay."

Stacie stared at her for a long beat, before she slowly clarified, "I'm talking about me."

Beca's eyes widened, and she hastened, "Oh, yeah. Of course. Totes – totally. Sex to zero, huh?"

"Something you want to share with the class, Beca?"

"We're talking about _you_." Beca said bluntly, brooking no argument, and Stacie honestly didn't feel like delving into Beca's relationship with Jesse, at least not at that moment. "What happened?"

Stacie told her, in the vaguest terms and using neutral pronouns, about how she was kind-of, sort-of dating someone but they weren't defining their relationship in any kind of way. And how after a mere two days, had awesome skip-dinner, on-the-couch sex. Repeatedly. And how amazing it had been. And slept together. And more of the same the next day.

Ignoring how the digital image of Beca increasingly shaded red with embarrassment with each added detail, Stacie went on to confess about how she'd confronted the person about their sexual history, admitted to her own hypocrisy on the topic, and then went on to tell about the two-days-and-counting dry spell.

"I mean, how am I supposed to interpret this?" Stacie asked in frustration. "Should I have ignored how many people they've slept with? Is the whole dinner-without-sex thing a sign we've U-turned back to being flirty-platonic? Are we just friends again now? I mean, friends who kiss and had awesome sex that one time – okay, not _one_ but you know what I mean – but is that it? Am I not getting awesome marathon sex ever again?"

Beca shrugged. "Maybe the sex wasn't that awesome for them."

"Aca-scuse me?" Stacie asked, offended, in a voice full of a deadly threat.

Beca cringed. "Don't... Don't do that. Don't replace syllables like that, it triggers my Aubrey Posen trauma."

"Beca."

"I don't know, Stacie." Beca sighed in resignation. "Maybe they want to try just dating for a while, that happens sometimes. It doesn't mean they like you less or don't want to sleep with you again; it just means sex isn't the only basis of a relationship." She paused, and then peered closely at the screen at Stacie. "Are you in a relationship?"

"What? No." Stacie quickly denied. She rolled her eyes. "Like dating isn't complicated enough."

Beca frowned. "How did you even meet someone? Your entire Twitter and Facebook feed is about your internship." She stopped, and stared at Stacie. "Are you dating someone from your office?"

What the actual fuck, Beca. How did someone so oblivious to anything unrelated to music be so quick to piece that together? "What?" Stacie let out a small burst of laughter that sounded a lot like panicked hysteria, even to her own ears. God, she should have gotten more sleep last night, she wasn't firing on all cylinders this morning. "What are you talking about?"

"You're not saying no." Beca pointed out.

Stacie waved her hand dismissively, feigning nonchalance. "You know me. I never say no."

"And now you're deflecting." Beca noted.

Stacie was going to kill Denise/Ashley/Chloe/Jessica/Beca's dad, whoever advised Beca to take Psych 101. "Beca-"

"I guess inter-office dating doesn't count if you're both interns…" Beca mused. "It _is_ another intern, right?"

"Not... exactly."

Pause. "…How, exactly?"

"I don't…" Stacie sighed. "I can't really talk about it."

"Stacie." Beca's voice grew serious, and her expression was a picture of concern. "I know how important your internship is, but if you're being forced—"

"What? No!" Stacie exclaimed. "Beca, _no_. Whatever it is you're thinking: that's not it at all."

Beca paused for a long moment, before she spoke again. "Stacie, I say this from a place of friendship and love, so don't…" She exhaled. "Don't bang your boss."

The universe hated her. Clearly. Having her own words, a lofty quip she'd used to tease Aubrey with, being said back to her felt a lot like a slap in the face. "I'm not banging my boss." She said curtly, annoyed. "Thanks a lot for that vote of confidence, Beca."

"Well, what else could it be?" Beca asked defensively. "A coworker you're dating but can't talk about? And there's nothing on your Instagram as proof. What was I supposed to think?"

Stacie groaned. Who knew that being swept up in the giddy excitement of dating, being too caught up in each other, making her and Aubrey both forget to document their dates through social media, could be interpreted this way? In fact, Stacie wondered if she'd even been able to take _any_ pictures of her and Aubrey in the past few days. "Nothing. Don't think about it. Stop thinking about it. Just know it's not my boss, and I'm not being forced into this."

"Stacie—"

Stacie, who had grown weary of the conversation and just wanted to move on, move on to topics that didn't remind her of the sensitive nature of her non-relationship with Aubrey, was like a wounded animal when cornered, and viciously attacked. "How's sex with Jesse, Beca?"

Beca growled – a cute, mewling mess of a growl, but one nonetheless – and relented. "Okay. I'm not thinking about it."

"Good."

"Yeah. Good talk." Beca sighed. "Have fun in Philly."

"Enjoy LA."

"See you back at school, I guess."

"Yeah. And Beca?" Stacie said in warning.

"I'm not telling the girls." Beca knew exactly what Stacie would be worried about. Besides, she had her own problem to be concerned about. "That sex thing…"

"Our secret."

"Okay." Beca exhaled. "Okay."

Stacie paused, and added, "thanks for listening, Beca."

"The advice holds, by the way." Beca told her, in a soft voice. In case it had gotten lost in the subsequent argument, Beca reminded, "Maybe it doesn't have to be just about the sex."

Yeah. "I know."

That was kind of what Stacie was afraid of.


	9. Chapter 9

Aubrey was tired – no, she was _exhausted._ She had no idea whose brilliant idea it was for her to step in for a development officer and conduct a training seminar in Baltimore at the last minute, but that officer better name her emergency-delivery firstborn child after Aubrey, she swore to God. She'd had to drive down to Maryland that morning, and since she had a morning meeting the next day back in Philadelphia, drove right back once the training was over.

She deserved at least a salary bump for this crap, honestly.

But she would still rather be at the beck and call of the organization than be in money management (and the fast-paced and highly-competitive lifestyle that involved), which had been her initial job description when she'd gone to Chicago, so she couldn't complain.

And sometimes she was even allowed to yell at the trainees presented to her, when clients agreed to a more boot camp/drill sergeant approach, so she _really_ couldn't complain. Baltimore had been a simple basic skills training, something she could do half-asleep, which was probably why they trusted her to conduct it without prior preparation.

However, it was late, and she'd been too weary to even consider taking a food detour before getting back to Philadelphia, so she was tired, sleepy, and hungry, _and_ she had to be up in a few hours to prepare for her meeting.

Feeling like every bone and muscle in her body were too heavy to perform basic functions such as turning the lights on in the apartment, Aubrey trudged into the room in total darkness, dropping her laptop case and purse on the nearest chair, kicked off her heels, and then shed her blazer to drop on the floor, before finally collapsing face down into the couch and burying her face into one of the pillows.

One of the few advantages of such a bare apartment was the lack of opportunity to trip and fall over anything, which at the moment Aubrey was infinitely grateful for.

As she sank further into the cushion of the couch, she sighed in relief at finally being able to rest.

This was not the first time she would fall asleep on the couch. She hadn't been lying about how comfortable it was.

Between the level of comfort the furniture provided and how she and Stacie had enjoyed defiling it, Aubrey idly wondered if she could negotiate with facilities management to have this couch sent to New York.

 _Stacie_.

Aubrey sighed, inwardly groaning, momentarily distracted from her exhaustion to take a moment to internally berate herself on how she was unquestionably mishandling whatever relationship she had going on with Stacie. She knew the girl had to be listing the many ways Aubrey wasn't worth it, at this point. The phone call on Sunday had thrown Aubrey off-balance, not expecting to be called out on having slept with other people in the past year, and Aubrey knew she hadn't been helping matters by trying to do what she thought was the right thing and focusing back on other aspects of dating, like actually going out on dates; knowing how easy it was to get distracted and avoid any kind of serious discussion by falling into bed with each other. The problem, she had realized during the drive from Baltimore, was that going out to public places meant they hadn't been able to discuss anything too private… like, for example, the people they had slept with in the past year. Whether by accident or by design, the places they had chosen to dine at the past few days hadn't been very conducive to deep conversations.

She knew she owed Stacie better answers, actual explanations on why she had distanced herself from the Bellas, why the phone calls – awkward as they may have been – stalled, and everything else that Aubrey had gone through the past year.

But to talk about them would be admitting to what she had been up to the past year, and Aubrey knew not all of it were positive things. After all, there was a reason why she had been plucked from the relative obscurity of employee orientation for newly-graduated management trainees and into one of the high-profile groups of a major multinational corporation, and stating it had been luck and countless hours of overtime was simplifying things. She hadn't had to resort to underhanded methods, but there had been too many times in the past year that she had felt frighteningly sympathetic towards Alice, her former Barden Bellas captain, and channeled the part of her that had cultivated and earned the fear and terror of the new Bellas during her senior year.

And she knew – she _knew_ – that Stacie (or anyone, really, probably even Aubrey) hadn't been particularly fond of that version of Aubrey Posen. Aubrey had no doubt that if Stacie hadn't been so stubborn when faced with a challenge, or if they hadn't shared so many class breaks, allowing for similar library and break times, Stacie wouldn't have been able to see through the cutthroat personality that Aubrey had adopted as Bellas captain, or even seen her with her guard down.

But it had helped, that awful side of her, when she had to do what she was told to do, what the job entailed, when she was made to go beyond her Training and Development role and show up after hostile takeovers, acquisitions, job cuts, "corporate realignment" or any other fancy terms they used to pretend they weren't vicious corporate pirates.

(And then there were the series of half-assed relationships: some were people Aubrey dated until they started wanting a commitment, and some were people Aubrey would date just for the sake of not being alone. But calling any of them "relationships" was an overstatement.)

There was a reason why Aubrey had jumped at the chance to take the job in Philadelphia, despite the fact that it was low-impact, low-profile, and offered nothing in terms of building her career profile: it was a review, plain and simple, to ensure everything was still moving efficiently in the company. The managers got to state their case for any pending requests, and the Oversight Committee would make recommendations based on the requests, and their own review findings. Philadelphia was supposed to have been a break, an opportunity for her to breathe a little, to regroup and regain focus, to straighten out the angst and turmoil, the ennui that had plagued her for the past few months.

And after a week of reviewing practical things like facilities and systems, she'd finally gotten to the list of personnel, and Stacie's name appeared on the company's roster of summer interns. And taking away the internal debate on how she would have wanted to face Stacie a year after their last encounter, Stacie had been in the elevator Aubrey had to take one day after a morning detour to the security office. And Aubrey had been unable to stop herself from starting a conversation, taking in Stacie's exhausted countenance, and had wanted to try and make Stacie's day just a little better, or at least make the girl smile.

She hadn't needed to ask herself why making Stacie smile had mattered so much to her.

Just like why she hadn't needed to stop and consider the repercussions of pursuing anything with Stacie: There had been no question. Even if she'd had to sacrifice her pride and had to admit to her boss that she was dating an intern.

She was just grateful that her boss, despite being Vice President and widely known as a no-nonsense woman, had more personal relationships with the members of her Oversight Committee, and had known Aubrey well enough to know that Aubrey wouldn't have even started anything, much less inform her about such a blatant stretch of ethics, if it were anything less than important.

She had no idea just what, exactly, was going on between herself and Stacie Conrad, but Aubrey had no doubt that whatever it was, it certainly qualified as _important_.

Her phone beeped, and as if such heavy thinking about the girl had summoned her, Aubrey received a message from Stacie.

 _Are you home?_

Aubrey frowned, and checked the time to make sure she was receiving the text on time, before she answered: _Just got home. You OK?_

 _Can I come over?_

Aubrey's confusion grew – had she given Stacie any kind of indication that she wasn't welcome at the apartment? – and she texted back. _Of course_.

The knock on the door came almost instantaneously, probably in the same amount of time for the text message to traverse communication lines, and Aubrey forced herself out of the couch and into an upright position, staggering back to the door. She switched a light on, momentarily blinking to become accustomed to no longer being engulfed in darkness, and continued her way to the door.

She made the perfunctory check on the peephole, and stepped back to open the door. She offered Stacie a weak smile as Stacie entered the room. "I haven't returned your phone charger."

"You had to conduct a seminar out of town?" Stacie questioned, recalling the text message Aubrey had sent that morning.

Aubrey nodded, closing the door behind Stacie. "You're a sight for sore eyes." She scoffed at herself. "And sore everything else." She again gave Stacie a smile. "Hi."

Stacie returned it with a faint smile of her own. "Hi."

There was a moment's hesitation, before they both leaned in and moved forward, bumping awkwardly, but nonetheless managing to share a quick kiss without further incident. There was a full beat of them both relishing the fact that they still got to do that, and then the moment shifted. As if suddenly realizing they had just gone for twenty-four hours without any physical contact, the two women surged back together, their lips meeting in a frenzied kiss, Aubrey's hands tangling in Stacie's hair while Stacie's hands touched Aubrey everywhere, unable to decide how she most wanted to hold the older girl, the sudden bout of passion belying the exhaustion they both felt.

Stacie pinned Aubrey to the wall in the entryway, the suddenness of which making Aubrey gasp and break their kiss. They stared at each other for a long moment, trying to gauge if they were in any shape or form to pursue this line of physical activity, and what their current positions meant, before Stacie bent her head, closing her eyes as she pressed her forehead to Aubrey's.

"We need to talk."

Aubrey agreed. However… "Now?"

Stacie lifted her head, and regarded the other woman, frowning at the tiredness that seemed to etch itself in every line of Aubrey's face, and emanated from every pore. "You look awful."

She hadn't seen a mirror, but Aubrey certainly wouldn't deny it. "Baltimore."

"Enough said." Stacie acknowledged. "Are you sure you're okay for me to be here?"

"Of course. It's always okay to have you around." Aubrey leaned back against the wall, grateful for the support in keeping herself upright. "Are you OK?"

Stacie nodded, wrapping her arms around Aubrey and clasping her hands behind the blonde's back, managing to be close enough to be intimate while also providing some distance between them to still be able to look at each other, while also helping keep Aubrey in a standing position. "Traffic was backed up on my route – there's roadwork _and_ an accident – and when the bus barely moved two blocks in two hours, I turned back." She tilted her head to the floor, where her purse and a brown paper bag lay, having fallen from her hands when she'd reached for Aubrey earlier, bags which Aubrey hadn't even noticed. "I brought Thai." She paused, and frowned. "You like Thai, right?"

"I like Thai." Aubrey confirmed. She sagged against the wall. "But I'm too tired to eat."

Stacie could relate. "Can I stay here?"

Aubrey smiled and pushed off the wall, causing Stacie to back up a step. "Yeah, of course. Go wash up, I'll keep the food."

Stacie smiled to show her appreciation, and briefly brushed her lips to Aubrey's – grateful that she still got to do that – and turned to head to do as directed.

While Stacie sorted through Aubrey's clothes to pick something she could wear the next day and not echo any of Aubrey's previous outfits, Aubrey took a quick shower, and Stacie couldn't help but think that for a relationship so undefined, she and Aubrey were being completely domestic.

And the startling notion that it didn't terrify her at all.

After picking out an ensemble – pairing up a skirt and sleeveless top that she was pretty sure Aubrey wouldn't think to put together, nor she could recall Aubrey wearing recently – Stacie picked up her phone to check her messages, while also moving to her side of the bed to lie down.

She must have drifted off at one point, because she woke up when Aubrey joined her in bed. Stacie peered up at her, looking slightly better after her shower and a lot less world-weary. Stacie fought off her own exhaustion to address the elephant in the room. "We still need to talk."

"Okay." Aubrey answered, setting her own phone on the bedside table and settling down on the bed.

"I have questions."

Aubrey rest her head upon her pillow, and faced Stacie. "Okay."

Stacie studied her for a moment, and tried to decide on what was the most pressing question she had.

"Why aren't you talking to Chloe?"

What the fuck.

The question had been nagging Stacie from the back of her mind, but that definitely hadn't been what she'd thought would be her first question, given the opportunity to ask.

And judging from Aubrey's expression, she hadn't expected it, either.

But having said it out loud, Stacie realized that Chloe, or more specifically Aubrey's friendship with Chloe, seemed to be the crux of some of Stacie's questions regarding Aubrey's life in the past year. There were too many gaps, too many blank spaces, and while it had hurt, Stacie could understand why keeping in touch with her hadn't been on top of Aubrey's to-do list. Aubrey letting her friendship with Chloe slide was a red flag.

Aubrey lifted her gaze to the ceiling, trying to sort through her ready excuses – busy, things to do, conflicting schedules, 'can't talk right now' – and tried to find the truth of the matter. "I don't know how to talk to her anymore."

Stacie frowned.

Aubrey turned back to her, and sighed. "All of you, really. It's weird," she smiled weakly, because here was someone who was part of the reason why Aubrey had felt the need to distance herself from her friends, and Stacie was the one who wanted an explanation. "I was the one who left but every time I called it felt like I was the one who got left behind."

"I don't..." Understand. Get it. Know what you're talking about.

Aubrey gazed at a point over Stacie's shoulder as she spoke. "The first few weeks after graduation it felt…" She paused. "There's this feeling, I've heard people call it emotional paralysis. Like you've stalled, and you don't know how to move past it. After graduation, I didn't really _know_ how to feel much about anything. Sometimes I'd feel like I poured so much of my feelings in those past few months, losing at the semis then getting it together in time for the ICCAs, and then winning, and then you, and Chloe, and graduation, and _you_ , and by the time I got to Chicago I felt empty. But work kept me busy, but it would get overwhelming, and the only time I'd feel like I wasn't drowning was when I'd talk to Chloe." Her gaze flickered back to Stacie. "And then school started again. And it felt like losing Chloe all over again to you guys."

"We didn't-"

"But you did." Aubrey exhaled. "It's not your fault, you didn't know. Back then I wasn't paying attention; I was neglectful. She needs the company, and God knows someone had to convince all of you not to quit the Bellas. But when school started again and we'd talk it always felt like she had somewhere else to be, somewhere else you were all going to. And I couldn't use Chloe as a lifeline anymore. And half the time I was calling because work sucked and I realized that if I just told her about the bad stuff, maybe she'd be even less inclined to graduate. But work sucked more than it didn't, and when your job takes up pretty much your entire life, and you make the decision not to talk about it, there isn't much left to talk about."

Stacie frowned. "So you stopped calling."

"I called less," Aubrey nodded. "And I'd hate to sound like I'm passing the blame, but I have to point out the fact that phones go both ways, and I wasn't exactly getting a lot of calls from Georgia."

Stacie fell silent, because Aubrey kind of had a point on that one. She didn't know exactly the reasons why, but she knew they'd been neglectful, too. But that wasn't the point.

"Besides, it's not like she even noticed."

"She did." Stacie corrected. When Aubrey's expression wrinkled in confusion, Stacie explained her interruption. "You went from calling almost every night to once in a while, Aubrey. She noticed. We all did."

"I didn't have anything to say."

"That wasn't the point." Stacie argued. "You could have read the receipt of your lunch meal, for all we cared. Any sign that _you cared_ was what mattered. I just wanted to know you were okay."

Aubrey frowned. "Stace—"

"You called less with Chloe, but _you stopped calling me_. I was just too happy to see you last week that I almost forgot that you cut me out. But when you wouldn't talk to me, I thought about it, and I remembered, and you… _You cut me out_. You said you were going to stay in touch."

"I said I'd _try_."

"Well, you obviously stopped trying, didn't you?" Stacie couldn't help but go on the offensive because while she had understood, and she had even seen it coming, it had still hurt deeply to have been so easily set aside by Aubrey.

"We had nothing to talk about." Aubrey reminded quietly, trying to quell the emotional storm the conversation was brewing. "I'd ask about school, and you'd ask about work, and that was it."

"You could have asked about the fucking weather and I would have answered."

"Those calls were awkward as hell, and you know it."

"Because _someone_ – and it sure as hell hadn't been me – decided that we couldn't talk about other stuff because to do that would make the calls sound like people in a relationship." Stacie countered.

"A relationship _we_ couldn't have. One I wasn't ready for and _you_ didn't want."

"You just _stopped_ , Aubrey. At least Chloe's getting the slow death of communication. You just…"

"I was dating someone." Aubrey blurted out, confirming what Stacie had always suspected, about the abrupt end to Aubrey's calls. Aubrey groaned, bringing her hands up to cover her face, and rolled onto her back. She let out a small scream of frustration into her hands, before lifting them and allowing herself to look up at the ceiling. "I was dating someone, and when I'd call or even _think_ of you, it felt an awful lot like I was cheating on her. So I made a choice. And I stopped."

"You chose her." Stacie concluded, her voice hollow.

Aubrey choked on a bitter laugh, because what a simplistic way to look at it. It _seemed_ simple, but it hadn't been: she'd thought back then that was exactly what she had been doing, that it could be that simple, only to be proven, given her current circumstance, that she'd been very wrong. "What else could I do? You were in Georgia. She was in Illinois. It didn't feel like much of a choice."

Stacie was silent.

"And then I got the job in New York and she was sent to Seattle. End of story." Aubrey finished, before she turned her head and looked at Stacie, whose gaze was lowered. "Are you sure you want to hear the rest of this? It doesn't get better."

Stacie blew out a breath, and lifted her eyes to meet Aubrey's. "Tell me everything." When Aubrey hesitated, because they both knew the implications of having the truth out between them, she said quietly, "please."

So Aubrey did.


	10. Chapter 10

Aubrey looked at Stacie for a long moment, trying to figure out where to start. After all, it would be the first time that she would actually be telling someone about her year, someone who wanted to know _everything_ , someone she knew she wouldn't have to sugar-coat anything to.

Because whether they acknowledged it or not, they had become the person they told their deepest, darkest secrets to.

Aubrey suddenly sat up, the movement startling Stacie, but she remained silent as Aubrey placed her elbows on her bent knees, running her fingers through her blond hair. "What do you want to know?"

Right, as if Aubrey's brusque tone was such an open invitation for Stacie to ask questions.

"I don't know," Stacie admitted, sitting up as well, and facing Aubrey. "I mean," she blew out a breath. "How bad was it?"

Aubrey tilted her head in question, considering how that was a mildly offensive thing to ask.

"I don't know!" Stacie exclaimed in frustration. "You were in Chicago, and then in New York, and there are _names and dates_ – I don't know what you've been up to! And I've built it up in my head, like, were they guys you just met? Girls from your favorite Starbucks? Do you date a lot? You just say the results of your STD test like it's nothing, do you get tested that often? Was there a scare? Were you drunk when you hooked up? What experiences have you had that makes it easy for you to just talk about getting tested?"

Whether it was the wall of words, the nature of the questions, or just Stacie's demeanor in delivering the series of questions, it seemed to have helped Aubrey gather her thoughts, because she no longer looked like she wanted to crawl out of her skin. And it was something she could answer factually. "Getting tested is part of our regular medical check-up, for those of us who travel for work."

Oh. That… that made sense.

Aubrey tilted her head back to lean against the headboard. "And to answer your question, there weren't… a lot. But there were more than I really feel good about, and some I really had no business being with. And before you ask, I'm still not giving you a number."

Stacie frowned. "Then why were you with them?"

Aubrey threw her hands up in a helpless gesture. "Because they were there? Because it's easier to be alone with someone else? Maybe it's because people say that the best way you're supposed to get over someone is to get under someone else. I don't know."

Stacie gave her a sharp look. "You were that hung up over that girl?"

"You're not stupid, Stacie. Don't play dumb." Aubrey muttered, folding her arms in front of her.

Stacie furrowed her brow, and came to a few conclusions of her own, but wasn't sure if those were conclusions she wanted to discuss in detail, at least not right at that moment. Instead, she chose another avenue of discussion. "Okay: I get why you felt you had to choose some other girl over me."

Aubrey groaned. "That's not-"

"Or even why you and Chloe aren't at a very good place," Stacie continued, ignoring her. "But why cut out the Bellas? What was so bad that you couldn't fake it, even just a little?" It was something that bothered Stacie, the way Aubrey had distanced herself from the Barden Bellas, the girls who had been her friends, and had gone through so much with, and just left them behind once she'd graduated.

There was a lengthy pause, with Stacie studying Aubrey's stony expression for a clue, while Aubrey kept her gaze fixed on the opposite wall. Her jaw worked a few times, as if trying out the words that she was going to use to answer, but for a very long time, she didn't say a thing.

Stacie groaned in frustration, because she had no idea how Aubrey could be so forthcoming about some topics, and so reticent on others. "I don't…" She sighed, and tried a different tack. "Can you at least tell me what the hell happened? I mean, I thought… I thought you liked your job. I thought your boss was OK, that you were OK, and now you're telling me differently, I don't know... what is it?"

"It's not the job." Aubrey finally turned to look at her, and answered her softly. She blew out a breath. "I mean, most days it's okay, I go to work, I plan trainings and seminars, and conduct them. Or I look at the status of employees and see who are due for promotions, or put them on track of getting one. That's the good part."

"But there are bad parts," Stacie guessed.

"They call my team Workforce Management, which is a really fancy way of saying we're the people who tell people whether or not they'll still have a job at the end of the day. And being part of Oversight means I'm the person who goes in on the very worst day of a company and tells people that their day just got worse." Aubrey told her. She sighed heavily. "It's not every day, but when you get a reputation for being very very good at the other thing? It's not… it's not…"

"What you signed up for?" Stacie attempted to fill in.

"That's…" Aubrey shook her head. She looked away, trying to get her thoughts in order, while Stacie watched, unsure of what, exactly, she should be doing or saying. Finally, Aubrey turned back to her. "You don't know what the job in Chicago was, do you?"

Stacie shook her head.

"And you don't know about my dad."

That was more conclusive, Aubrey's delivery more of a statement than a question, but Stacie still shook her head in response.

"Right." Aubrey smiled grimly, readying herself for a topic she dreaded to bring up. "There's a reason, why my mom and dad weren't at my graduation."

Stacie held herself back from reacting, because _this entire thing_ _dated back from Aubrey's graduation_?

Aubrey looked down, and started picking at a thread on the comforter. "My dad had a stroke, and went into a coma. And me and my mom, we…" Aubrey looked up at Stacie. "In my family, everyone had their roles. And my dad, he was the one who handled the money. So my mom and I had no idea where we were, financially. So when that happened to my dad, I didn't know what was going to happen. He had insurance, so that was going to pay the hospital bills, but we didn't know for how long. And me, and my mom? We didn't know anything. But I was graduating, and I had job offers. And if my dad followed through on any of his threats, I knew that at the very least, I'd have a job, and an income, and a place to stay."

"Wait, threats?" Stacie interrupted. Because, _what?_

Aubrey gave her a look. "Did you think telling me to pack my bags in the event of failure was an idle threat?"

Holy shit. And Stacie had to say it out loud. "Holy shit."

"No, just the regular stuff." Aubrey said dryly, and sighed. "The job in Chicago, even on paper, was gonna suck, but it was going to pay well – no, it was going to pay _really_ well – and it offered a fast track to getting promoted, so I took it. Once I was there, and… money management wasn't where I wanted to be, but I'm good with numbers. So I faked it until I could get a promotion, just anything to get me out of that group, that lifestyle, and that's how I got into a management training group. And that's how they discovered I'm really good at making people do what I want them to do."

"And that's how you ended up in New York?"

Aubrey nodded, and then almost immediately shook her head. "That's just part of it."

Stacie rubbed her forehead with her hand. This was headache-inducing, she was sure. "Go on."

"Yeah… and with all that crap going on, my dad died."

"Wait, your dad died?" Stacie interrupted again, startled, because that was news to her. At Aubrey's nod, she frowned. "Why didn't…" She looked up at Aubrey. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"You really think I didn't try?" Aubrey asked quietly.

At that admission, Stacie's heart sank. After the earlier discussion of how Aubrey's phone calls became less and less personal, and Chloe and the rest of the Bellas always seemingly too busy to entertain Aubrey's calls, it wasn't out of the question for Aubrey's attempt to tell any of them such personal news to be waylaid by the Barden Bellas' busy collegiate life. "Oh."

"And I think…" Aubrey frowned. "Thinking back, I think that's when I realized I had to figure out this adult stuff, maybe on my own, because nobody was going to hold my hand through it. The previous Bellas all told me there were some growing pains, but that I'd get through it, just like they had. My other friends weren't so easy to talk to because most of them were still toiling at entry-level. And my mom had to figure out her life, too, at that point; I couldn't keep counting on the Bellas to put their lives on hold just to listen to me figure out mine."

"But we needed you, too." Stacie argued.

"No, you didn't. That's the point." Aubrey countered. "You didn't need some sad-sack former captain looking over your shoulders trying to fit back in. And I needed to figure out who I was beyond the Bellas, beyond _being_ a Barden Bella. Beyond the girl who lived to make her dad proud and simultaneously being his biggest disappointment. Because I wasn't anymore. And, trust me, once I realized I had no idea who that girl was beyond those two things?"

Stacie stayed quiet.

"Was when the shit hit the proverbial fan." Aubrey finished. She shook her head. "I had no business, being with… that girl. I shouldn't have been in a relationship with _anyone_ , at that point. And I knew that. It was why I didn't try and force us to have a relationship when I graduated, because I knew I wasn't ready, I knew I couldn't be good for you. Or for anyone. But she was there, and she was _there_ when the people I really wanted to be weren't." She lifted a hand to allay Stacie's counterargument. "This isn't me blaming you, or Chloe. I'm just telling you how it got to a point where I convinced myself that I could be in a relationship with someone I cared about but didn't love. Because I chose that. I told myself that maybe I could learn to love her." Aubrey looked at Stacie, her gaze heavy with the weight of what she was saying, the emotions that had led her to do what she did. "And to do that, to try and get to a point where I could believe that? I had to get over you. I had to let you go."

Stacie lowered her gaze, unable to keep eye contact with Aubrey. Maybe she had written Aubrey off as the one who got away, but she realized now, hearing those words, that she hadn't believed it, not really. And having their phone calls end had hurt, too, but she realized now that a part of her had always believed that things hadn't been over between herself and Aubrey. Hearing that Aubrey intentionally made the effort to get over her hurt in ways Stacie hadn't considered. "Did you?"

Aubrey sighed. "What?"

Stacie looked up at her. "Did you? Learn?"

Aubrey smiled bitterly. "I never let you go."

Which was not quite an answer, but carried its own implications. "But there were others."

"Stacie—"

"No." Stacie cut her off, shaking her head, and jolted out of the bed to start pacing. "You don't- I wrote you off. The phone calls ended, and I knew why, and you never called me again, so I wrote you off. You don't get to say shit like that to me and just…" She looked away. "I wrote you off, Aubrey."

Aubrey lifted her hands helplessly. "Then why are you here?"

Stacie faltered, her indignation leaving her completely, because that was a very good question. And she didn't have an answer beyond what she offered Aubrey. "Because I want to be."

Aubrey stared at her for a moment, and then shook her head. If only it were that simple.

Stacie frowned. "What?"

Aubrey let out a small, hollow laugh. "Ask me about North Carolina."

"North Carolina?"

"Do you know what happens in North Carolina every late January or early February?"

"I don't know. Snow?"

"ICCA Regionals."

Stacie leaned against the chest of drawers in the room, and closed her eyes briefly. "You were there."

"Wanting to see my friends." Aubrey confirmed. "It was a last-minute decision, I was in the area, and I thought, I really needed to see my friends."

Stacie frowned, because she was sure she hadn't hooked up with anyone in North Carolina during Regionals. The group had been too close to losing – they had performed first, and to their utmost horror, their very sexually-charged performance had a number of nuns in the audience, including one of the judges – and their win had come as such as a relief that the Bellas had just gone home, unwilling to face the judgmental glares of their audience. "We could have used your support then. Why didn't you?"

"I got an emergency call, in the middle of the Treblemakers' set. And I took it. And I realized that was going to be my life now: calls from work from people who needed me to do my job."

"You say all that, but you were at the finals."

Aubrey laughed wryly. "Yeah. I was."

Stacie gave her a look that told her she expected a reasonable explanation, one that went beyond Aubrey's previous response as to why she hadn't let the Barden Bellas become aware of her presence a mere few weeks back, when they had all been in New York City at the Lincoln Center. Because maybe communication lines had already started to deteriorate at that point, but Stacie had no doubt that all would have been forgiven if Aubrey had shown any kind of effort to remind the Barden Bellas - particularly Chloe and Stacie - that the Bellas still mattered to her.

"I wasn't going to." Aubrey started. "There were… things going on, and I had this party to go to that night. But Dan – that's the friend who was with me – didn't want to go to the party, either, so we decided to go to the ICCAs instead."

"What things?"

Aubrey frowned.

"What 'things' were going on that time?" Stacie pressed.

Aubrey winced, because even just thinking about it made her head hurt. "I was coming out of a bad relationship. It was one of those on-again, off-again, mostly-physical, emotionally-draining relationships and Dan was a crutch to make sure I stayed away from that guy. And then another ex was in town. _And_ I had just finished a trip to Florida for a hostile takeover. It was just a whole bunch of things and a night of collegiate a cappella sounded like a good idea at the time." She sighed. "I was in a bad place. And Dan thought seeing the Bellas would have helped me find some good in my life again."

"Bet that went well." Stacie muttered.

"It did." Aubrey offered softly. When Stacie looked up at her, she smiled weakly. "Not that night, but I realized I needed to do to with what my life in New York was becoming the same thing I did with the Barden Bellas."

Stacie wrinkled her brow.

"I stepped away from the Bellas because it was the only way I could think of to stop using the Bellas as a crutch, and to let the Bellas grow from what it had been when I was leading it. I needed the distance, so that I wouldn't be the former captain who criticized everything you girls were all doing, and so that none of you could see what a mess I'd made of my life. I stayed away because I thought it was the best way for all of us to move on, and move forward." Aubrey elaborated. "So I needed to step away from what my life had become, from all the bad habits I'd developed. It's why I took the project in Philadelphia."

"You needed to get away."

"I needed to feel like I could breathe again." Aubrey nodded. "Sometimes the job sucks, but it's _the job_ , it's not who I am. And I needed to be OK with who I am."

And Stacie could understand that. But something still nagged at her. "But why… You thought you had no other choice but to cut the Bellas off? Is that… were we that inconsequential to you?"

"That's not—"

"No." Stacie shook her head. "You felt like we were holding you back. You… Yeah, we screwed up, Chloe overcompensated convincing herself she did the right thing by staying and I thought we were playing by your rules, but you actually thought you could just step away from us and everything would be fine?"

"That's not what I meant."

"But that's what you thought, isn't it?" Stacie demanded. "It just never occurred to you that we could have needed you?"

"But you didn't!" Aubrey argued. "You _don't_. And, you know what? Don't stand there saying you did because I remember that year pretty well, and most of you couldn't wait to be rid of me."

"That's not true."

"Don't mistake how you feel about me with the way you felt about my leadership, or how everyone else feels about me." Aubrey countered. "Yeah, things were getting better by finals, but other than you and Chloe, I'm pretty sure everybody else would be on edge if I kept hanging around."

"Which made it easier for you to just set us all aside?" Stacie insisted.

Aubrey shook her head. "I needed the time away. And the other former Bellas will back me up on this: the Bellas mean everything to me, but it can't _be_ everything. When they graduated, the girls from before? Yeah, it sucked when they weren't calling me every week to check in, to find out how the Bellas were doing, how Chloe and I were managing, or even how _I_ was doing, especially that last year. But you know what I found out? They had their own problems. Just like _I_ had my own problems. They were figuring out how to not be in college anymore, when their friends were miles away, in different states. So figuring out the world on my own? Sure as hell was a whole of a lot more daunting than checking in on my friends who all had each other."

Stacie shook her head. "But you could have—"

"And why are you insisting I _wanted_ to be away from the Bellas? Do you have any idea what the Barden Bellas mean to me?" Aubrey cut her off. "Not just the Bellas I've known; the _institution_. Why do you think I tried to preserve the legacy and tradition so obsessively? To some of you it's just a college a cappella group, or your friends, but the Bellas were my _family_ , for four years. Even with Alice, even with Beca, in it. You don't get to accuse me of wanting to leave it behind: just because I didn't fail Russian Lit on purpose doesn't mean I wouldn't have given anything to stay."

Stacie, properly chastened at least on _that_ particular point, conceded to Aubrey's indignation. She had honestly forgotten that the Barden Bellas had been a part of Aubrey's life before she and the rest of her friends came along, and it was easy to forget that there had been other Bellas, other girls who had apparently meant a lot to Aubrey, before them. "I'm sorry."

"Don't… don't be _sorry_." Aubrey said tiredly, shaking her head. "You're entitled to how you feel; how you felt. But I need you to understand that I had to grow up. I had to move forward, and I couldn't do that if I kept on having one foot still deeply rooted in Barden."

Stacie frowned. "Did it work?"

Aubrey sighed heavily, throwing her hands up in a gesture of utter defeat. "Who even really knows anymore?"

Stacie looked at her for one long, discerning minute, trying to understand Aubrey's vague response. Because Aubrey, for all intents and purposes, had succeeded, and was thriving in her adult professional life: she had an upwardly mobile job, was self-sufficient, and wasn't tethered to anything that could hold her back. But from what she had just confessed to Stacie, she was convinced that most of it came with a price.

Aubrey exhaled, suddenly exhausted. She slumped back against the headboard of the bed, and closed her eyes.

Also feeling the fatigue of the late hour and knowing they would have to wake in a few short hours to report to work, Stacie slowly returned to her side of the bed. She paused, and glanced at Aubrey. "Should I stay on the couch?"

"It's a big bed." Aubrey answered tiredly, keeping her eyes closed.

Stacie settled back on the bed, trying to find a comfortable position... or as comfortable as she could get, given the heavy atmosphere in the room. After a few minutes, she spoke again. "Aubrey?"

A soft murmur of inquiry was her only answer.

Stacie paused, and it was a long enough pause for Aubrey to conclude Stacie wasn't going to say anything.

Until finally, the younger woman's voice broke the silence, with a whisper that could just barely be heard.

"I never got over you, either."

Aubrey huffed quietly. "But you wrote me off."

"I never said I let you go."

There was a beat, then: "What do _you_ want, Stacie?"

This time, the silence that followed wasn't broken.


	11. Chapter 11

Stacie woke to the sound of Aubrey's phone alarm, and she watched blearily as Aubrey picked up her phone from the bedside table and slowly sat up, one hand pressing against her head, every line of her body indicating just how much Aubrey was not in the mood to meet the morning.

Stacie couldn't blame her: they had talked for what felt like hours, and only their exhaustion, both physically and emotionally, had forced them to surrender to sleep.

Not that sleep had come easily to either of them. Stacie had felt Aubrey fidgeting from her side of the bed, and she hadn't been able to shake off the way Aubrey's last question kept echoing in her head, refusing to let her rest. It had been impossible to find some peace and quiet when the fact remained that there were still so many things unresolved between them.

She studied Aubrey, who sighed heavily and ran her fingers through her hair. "Aubrey, you barely slept."

"Work." Was all Aubrey said in response, before taking a deep breath and rubbing her eyes with her hand.

It should have been an adorable sight, but Stacie had other concerns. "It's still early, maybe you should sleep some more."

"Can't." Aubrey sighed again. "I have to get to the office." She said simply, before sliding out bed.

Stacie frowned. "Office hours is still in three hours."

"I have a breakfast meeting I need to prepare for." Aubrey told her, going to the closet and picking out her clothes. "And you barely slept either, so you should be taking your own advice."

Stacie sat up. "Aubrey—"

"Not now, Stacie." Aubrey said curtly, glancing briefly at the other girl, and turned back to her task. "Go back to sleep."

Okay. That kind of casual dismissal, not to mention the harsh tone, really stung. And reminded Stacie a lot of Aubrey as she'd first known her, all no-nonsense and curt, dismissive of everyone, and so single-minded that she'd pretty much shut out anyone who had tried to convince her otherwise.

Aubrey sighed, and turned back to Stacie, her expression a lot more apologetic than it had been mere seconds earlier. "I'm sorry, I didn't... I just don't have the luxury of sleep, or time for that matter, this morning. But you do, and you should enjoy it while you can."

Stacie nodded mutely, which Aubrey took as acquiescence, and the blonde disappeared into the adjacent bathroom, leaving Stacie to her thoughts.

The problem, Stacie realized forlornly, was that she had no idea who the real Aubrey Posen was. Unlike Stacie, who played up a more shallow personality but was always aware of who she was and her own intellectual capacity, Aubrey was so many things to so many people that it was hard to pinpoint just which side of Aubrey was not a personality put on for other people's benefit. Stacie would like to believe that the real Aubrey was the girl who had reluctantly let a flirtatious freshman join her in the library back in Barden, the girl who flirted with her in an elevator a week ago, the girl who had looked at the interior of Stacie's childhood bedroom and had stood in awe.

But Aubrey was also the same girl who kicked Beca out of the Bellas out of misplaced frustration, and maybe a bit of spite, and who had been dismissive of her own best friend when Chloe tried to assert her own opinions. Aubrey was the girl who graduated from Barden and when she realized real life demanded that she sink or swim on her own, she had decided her friends in Barden was causing her to sink, and slowly tried to cut them off. Aubrey was the girl who stopped calling Stacie to pursue a relationship with someone else, only to use the fact that she was still hung up on a girl she'd known in college to avoid developing serious relationships with other people since then.

Oh yeah. That had been a point of contention, the fact that Aubrey had admitted to actually having feelings for Stacie, feelings that had been present for over a year, but still could not define what their current relationship was. And Stacie wasn't much help in that respect, either.

Stacie looked up when the bathroom door opened, and she and Aubrey stared at each other, startled: Stacie hadn't realized that much time had elapsed while she'd been lost in thought, and Aubrey thought Stacie had gone back to sleep.

It did not speak well of her restraint that despite their miserable night and awkward morning, Stacie still wanted to take Aubrey's towel and make Aubrey miss her breakfast meeting.

"You know you really should sleep," Aubrey advised.

"You aren't." Stacie pointed out.

"Yeah, but that's what the couch in the office is for." Aubrey pointed out.

Stacie paused, considering that point. _Huh._ That makes sense. She watched as Aubrey prepared for her day, each movement an elaborate ritual that Stacie imagined was not unlike putting on one's armor. She thought back to what Aubrey had told her about her job, and wondered if this was a daily occurrence, this symbolic preparation, and if Aubrey really felt it was necessary. When Aubrey was dressed and ready, it was almost as if she was well-rested and was fully prepared for the meeting ahead.

It was pretty impressive, Stacie had to admit. A casual observer wouldn't have been able to discern the lie.

And in retrospect Stacie wondered how often it had been that Aubrey was not as composed as she had purported to be during rehearsals and merely powered through it through sheer force of will.

Aubrey checked herself in the mirror one last time, considering if she needed an additional layer of concealer for the dark spots under her eyes. Deciding she really needed to get to the office to study the details of that morning's meeting, she turned away, only to have her gaze fall upon the girl on her bed.

Aubrey hesitated then, because as difficult as it had been for her to tell Stacie details of her past year, she imagined Stacie had to feel conflicted about the whole thing, as well. At least Aubrey had made the conscious decision to be a corporate asshole as her job required her to be. Stacie hadn't chosen to start an affair with a girl whose informal job description included being a corporate pirate, complete with industrial raiding and pillaging.

And the rest of it… Aubrey had chosen all those things. Stacie didn't have to live with Aubrey's choices.

They gazed at each other for a beat, but then Aubrey looked down, morose. "Look, I understand if you—"

Except Stacie had spoken, as well. "Are we okay?"

Aubrey's head snapped up, startled. Before she could question further, Stacie continued.

"I pushed, and I don't know if you were ready to tell me, or how much, but I pushed, and…" Stacie let her voice drift off, and sighed. "I still have questions, and I don't know if we're okay."

Aubrey exhaled, expelling a sigh of relief from the breath she hadn't known she'd been holding. "Don't… This isn't on you, Stacie."

Stacie looked doubtful.

Aubrey gave her a wan smile. "We're okay."

"But you're pissed."

Aubrey smiled wryly. "It isn't easy to admit you're pretty much a walking disaster."

Stacie wasn't sure how to respond to that.

Aubrey checked her watch, and sighed. "I really should go." She turned to leave, paused, and turned back to Stacie. "Assuming road work's still going on, you're sleeping over again, right?"

Stacie groaned at the reminder of why she'd spent the night. "Probably." She looked up at Aubrey. "If that's okay."

"Of course it is." Aubrey nodded, and picked up her wallet from her purse, pulling out a few bills as she approached the bed, and handed the money to Stacie. "Here."

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but I believe the agreement was I charge by the hour." Stacie said dryly.

"Jerk." Aubrey muttered, smiling despite herself. "You need clothes."

"What, you don't like me wearing your clothes?"

"Oh, I do. But people will notice and I'm pretty sure your hemline will be breaking corporate dress code if you try to wear any of my other skirts."

"Are you actually complaining about how short my skirts are?"

"Hardly."

"So it's my legs?"

"They're very nice. But they're also very long. Combined with the short skirts, you're asking for trouble. Buy clothes." Aubrey ordered.

"Yes, ma'am." Stacie drawled. "If there's any left over, should I buy myself something nice?"

"I'm gonna go." Aubrey declared, ignoring Stacie's reference. She turned to leave, but Stacie grabbed her wrist as she did. Aubrey turned back, lifting an eyebrow.

Stacie kneeled on the bed, bringing her closer to eye level with Aubrey, and used her hold on Aubrey's wrist to pull her closer. "Thank you."

Aubrey gazed into Stacie's eyes, searchingly. "For…?"

"Talking to me. I know it was hard, so thank you for trusting me." Stacie leaned closer, stopping with her lips a breath away from Aubrey's. She had made the effort to break the uneasy impasse between them, and had been the one to return their interaction to the intimacy from before her brain's traitorous interpretation of events, so she figured it was now up to Aubrey to decide their next step. "For sharing."

Aubrey found nothing but sincerity in Stacie's gaze, and closed the gap between them, brushing their lips together, albeit briefly. "I'll see you tonight."

"Good luck on your meeting." Stacie said.

"Go back to sleep." Aubrey reminded.

There was a beat, a moment where other words could have been spoken, but instead Stacie averted her gaze and Aubrey left.

Her day, thankfully, was devoid of any major events, and at this point she knew how to do her job by rote, making it extremely easy for Stacie to walk through her day even with only a few hours of uneasy sleep, and she managed to sneak some shopping time in during her lunch break. The slow day was both a blessing and a curse, because while it allowed her to relax and not worry that her brain wasn't working at full capacity, it also gave her a lot of opportunity to think about what Aubrey had told her the night before, and the questions she still had, the things that she and Aubrey were likely to talk about that night.

Assuming Aubrey wouldn't pick up on her last unanswered question, Stacie didn't know where she wanted to start. After all, she hadn't realized she'd hit it in the head when she'd asked about Chloe, and that had been a spur of the moment question. She doubted she'd be so lucky this time around.

Aubrey's boss, oddly enough, solved that problem.

"They want me back in New York." Aubrey started, as soon as the pizza – half-cheese, half-awesome (pepper, bacon, pepperoni, two different kinds of cheese) – was started on.

Stacie, who had been about to take a bite from her slice of not-boring pizza, stopped short and frowned. "Now?"

Aubrey gave her a wry look. "I have a week to wrap everything up in Philly. I guess they decided that if I've had time to date, I should have had enough time to finish my review."

That sucked. And Stacie said so.

Aubrey agreed.

There was a pause, and then Stacie asked the question that hung heavily in the air. "So what happens when you leave?"

Aubrey sighed. "I'm gonna go out on a limb and assume you're not talking about work."

Stacie glared at her. "No."

"Didn't think so." Aubrey glanced at her and sighed in defeat. "I don't know, Stacie. It's hard enough to keep a relationship when you're in the same place at the same time, but we won't be and I'm not sure there are any people who wouldn't want a chance to be with you."

"Do you?" Stacie asked, curious. When Aubrey looked confused, she elaborated. "Want a chance with me?"

"You know I do." Aubrey answered. "But you also know my deep, dark secrets. You know the stories of my past relationships. Do you really want to sign up for that horror show?"

Which was a roundabout way of following up on the previous night's question. Stacie groaned. "Why does it have to be on me? Why can't you be part of the decision-making?"

"I don't want your first relationship to be so terrible that you won't want to try it again." Aubrey said matter-of-factly.

"So you don't—"

"Don't do that." Aubrey cut in immediately. "I'm not saying I don't want to; I'm saying that if I had some way to guarantee I wouldn't screw things up, or for both of us to live happily ever after, you know I wouldn't hesitate to be with you."

Stacie motioned to the two of them, and their comfortable positions on the couch, a box of pizza and soda on the coffee table, some ridiculous television program being ignored. "This isn't so terrible."

"This is barely a week in," Aubrey reminded.

Stacie conceded that point. She wished, more than anything, that she could make promises that would ensure she and Aubrey could stay together, but she knew the Math. She knew their chances, and all the reasons why it can't work. She sighed. "I don't want to ask for anything I can't deliver."

Aubrey quirked an eyebrow in question.

Stacie hesitated, but admitted: "Commitment. Monogamy. All those other things. I mean," she exhaled, "you're right. Keeping in touch shouldn't have just been on you, and I didn't. And I don't know how well I'll be able to take the fact that you'll be off somewhere and I don't know what you're doing or who you're talking to." She made a face. "Now that I know there are _names and dates_."

"And God knows how much of a bacchanal college can be when you're an upperclassman." Aubrey added.

Stacie lifted an eyebrow.

"If you're invited to a party on Halloween that makes you pick up the exact location from some other location and starts at the Engineering building, don't go." Aubrey advised. "Or build up an alcohol tolerance better than most college boys' and _then_ have fun."

Stacie's eyes widened, but nodded.

They resumed eating, before Stacie suddenly looked up and frowned. "Wait, do you think I'm incapable of being monogamous?"

Aubrey furrowed her brow. "That's… a radical interpretation of text."

"You do!"

"You've never tried."

"I've never had to."

"My point."

"I'm _promiscuous_ , Aubrey. Not unfaithful."

Aubrey's confusion on the difference was apparent.

"I know the difference, that's what counts." Stacie said firmly.

"Be that as it may…"

"You don't know, maybe we'll be awesome together." Stacie interjected, cutting Aubrey off. "If we _were_ in a relationship."

"I know I'd try harder," Aubrey agreed.

"So this is on me?" Stacie objected. "We don't know, maybe I'd make an awesome girlfriend."

"We don't know," Aubrey reminded, parroting Stacie's words. "You don't even know what you want from this."

"I know I want you." Stacie snapped, before she shook her head in a sign of retreat. She sighed. "I just… the rest of it, though? I know I don't have a good track record – or _any_ track record, really, but maybe it won't be so bad."

"No, see? Right there." Aubrey pointed at her. "You're thinking of it as something that's just a step above from being miserable. You clearly don't want a relationship, or you're reluctant to want one, at least not one that you have to commit to. And that's okay. I don't want to pressure you into anything you don't want to do."

"But you want one."

"That's how I'm wired." Aubrey admitted. "I like the romance, even with all the clues of how bad I am at it."

"So what's to stop you from hooking up with the next person who wants a relationship with you? What if they talk the same language that you do, the flowers and dates, and special occasions?"

"Oh my God, have you not been listening to anything I've said? I'm bad at relationships, past the romance and fun stuff. And I'm trying to change that."

"Then why am I the bad guy?" Stacie retorted.

"What are you even- you're not the _bad guy_. I'm not even saying anything close to that. We're at different places in our lives, and we need different things."

"I am so lost right now." Stacie finally conceded, shaking her head. "What are you saying?"

"I'm just saying I don't want to be the reason you miss out on the fun of no longer being an underclassman in college." Aubrey pointed out. "I mean, you stop being an untouchable and grad students and TAs feel better about dating you. You start getting invitations to the dark parties."

"What are—"

"Not school-sanctioned. Some are possibly illegal."

"What?"

"And have you even hung out at the rooftop of the music conservatory?"

Stacie frowned. Barden had a music conservatory? "Wait, what? Are you saying you've-"

"Yes."

Stacie gaped at her. "What?"

"Yes, and that was _me_." Aubrey reiterated, inadvertently reminding Stacie that there were aspects to Aubrey that not everyone was privy to. "There's so much college has to offer, and you know as well as I do that you're gonna miss out if you're waiting for your absentee girlfriend to call."

"Wait, so now you're my girlfriend in this scenario?"

"Stacie."

"Isn't it against the rules to date a TA?" Stacie asked, confused.

"Not if they don't teach your class, pay attention." Aubrey digressed.

Stacie frowned at her. "You're kind of breaking up with me, Aubrey. _Sorry_ if I'm trying to prolong the coming of the crushing blow."

"It's not like I want to do this, either, Stacie." Aubrey said defensively. "But how, exactly, do you see this working out?"

Stacie looked away, pouting. Was it childish and impertinent, to refuse to answer because she didn't like the direction of the conversation? Maybe. And, sure, maybe she'd brought it upon herself for being unable to decisively declare what she wanted. But she refused to make it easy for Aubrey to break up with her, not after she had been hedging around the topic of the exact nature of their relationship the entire time they had been seeing each other. At that reminder, she frowned, and turned back to Aubrey.

"If you were going to end this as soon as you were headed back to New York, why start it at all, Aubrey? What was supposed to make this round any different from last time?"

Aubrey, who was losing her appetite given the argumentative nature of that evening's conversation, placed her slice on her plate and set it on the coffee table. She folded her arms across her chest, and slumped against the couch. "This was supposed to be a chance to see what us actually dating could be like."

Stacie tilted her head to the side. Wasn't that what they had been doing? "And?"

"And I still don't know how to make us work long-term." Aubrey admitted, leaning back to rest her head against the back of the couch, and groaned. "I can't figure out how we can stay together when I suck at relationships and… God, I'll probably figure out how to make a relationship with you the most catastrophic one of all."

Stacie wasn't so sure, but she had also learned not to underestimate Aubrey's ability to self-destruct.

"I just always figured, if we'd had more time, back in school, if we'd been dating and not just lost time in a hotel room, we'd know how to be in a relationship even with you still in Barden and me out of it." Aubrey continued. She turned her head, and looked at Stacie. "That's what this was supposed to be about."

"What?"

"More time."

That was the thing, wasn't it? They never had enough time. They were only barely scratching the surface of any potential relationship before they were forced to walk away from each other.

They had done it once before, and it hadn't exactly worked out the way they'd expected; their tryst in the hotel room should have been their one night to burn the other out of their system, and instead they had walked away wanting more, but unable to figure out how.

This time, it had been an opportunity to find out if they could have worked, and should have figured out the hows of maintaining a relationship, and instead they were arguing about whether or not they should have started at all. They knew time was running out, but how could they go on pretending everything was fine when they were being asked to walk away again?

They both knew they would regret it if they just left each other again; and what if the universe hated them enough for screwing up their second chance, and kept them apart?

Stacie sighed, setting aside her own pizza slice, and covered the distance between her and Aubrey, crawling over Aubrey's lap and straddling the blonde. She gazed down at the pouting countenance of the junior executive. "How much time?"

Aubrey furrowed her brow.

"How much longer can you stay?" Stacie elaborated. "My internship ends on Thursday."

"I have to report to the New York office on Monday."

One week.

Stacie nodded, mostly to herself, confirming her own decision and verbalizing the plan as it formed in her head. "Then we'll make the most of it, okay? Let's not think of it as a countdown to when we go our separate ways, but as how many days we still have together."

"But what about what happens after?" Aubrey asked, unfolding her arms and resting her hands on Stacie's thighs. "Isn't that what you were worried about?"

"I don't know what happens after." Stacie admitted. She shrugged. "But there's always next summer."

Aubrey frowned. "I doubt I'll be allowed to go back to work in Philadelphia just so I can date an intern again."

Stacie lightly smacked Aubrey's shoulder, giving her a glare. "Or I can actually come and see you, jerk."

Aubrey gazed up at her in amazed wonder. "You'd do that? You'd go through that trouble just to see me?"

"It's not like we have a choice, do we? I get summers off – other than the Bella tour – and you don't." Stacie shrugged again, unaware of just how much it meant to Aubrey that someone would go through that much effort just to see her. "We'll be like one of those annoying celebrity couples who tag along with each other everywhere."

Aubrey pursed her lips, and nodded. "Okay."

Stacie arched an eyebrow.

"Next summer." Aubrey nodded. "It's a date."

"Okay." Stacie smiled, and sealed the deal with a kiss, cupping the back of Aubrey's head and pulling her closer to deepen the kiss. She smiled against Aubrey's lips when she felt Aubrey's hands drift under the hem of the skirt she was wearing. She broke the kiss to smirk at Aubrey. "Naughty."

"I like the ease of access," Aubrey acknowledged. She bent her head forward, resting her forehead against Stacie's chest. Stacie felt the ragged breath Aubrey took, and played with the strands of Aubrey's hair, waiting the blonde out.

When Aubrey finally lifted her head to look up at Stacie, there was a quiet resolve in her eyes, even though there was sadness that lingered there, as well. Stacie gazed thoughtfully at her, and reached out to brush a lock of hair from Aubrey's face. "I'm really gonna miss you."

Aubrey smiled faintly. "I miss you already."


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Just a quick note to thank everyone for sticking with this story, even though we all know how it ends.**

* * *

Despite their best efforts, the week passed far more quickly than either of them would have liked, and because Stacie's mother had returned from her conference late Sunday night, Stacie had been braving the long bus trip home every night instead of staying with Aubrey.

Aubrey wouldn't go so far as to say she resented Stacie's mother – the woman had given birth and raised Stacie, after all – but her arrival really put a damper on the plans she and Stacie had made for Aubrey's last week in Pennsylvania.

So the only thing they managed to accomplish in Stacie's list of things to do before they broke up until the following summer was to tour Philadelphia and other nearby towns, which they did over the course of the weekend, checking out the usual tourist traps while also taking detours to places that only locals were privy to, which were mostly vintage shops and diners that Stacie swore by.

And if Aubrey often caught herself thinking how much fun it would be to have Stacie along to all the other cities she usually ended up in for her job, well, that was something she was keeping to herself for now.

She knew Stacie wasn't too amused by the fact that Aubrey was avoiding a standing invitation to have dinner at her house, but for some reason the logical explanation (excuse) that Aubrey wasn't ready to face the woman who had given birth to the woman she was sleeping with didn't pass muster with Stacie.

Or _had been sleeping with_ , because their last week together wasn't allowing for a lot of one-on-one time for Aubrey and Stacie.

On the bright side, Aubrey got to focus on finishing her review and finalizing all the important documentation.

She wasn't sure if it had been a blessing or a curse, but Aubrey still thought it sucked that she was stuck in a series of conference calls and meetings on Thursday, which prevented her from taking part in the office party bidding their summer interns goodbye.

At least one of those calls was with Finance, who were reporting major gains from a recommendation she'd made on a previous project, which made a promotion likely in the near future. And a bonus. She would happily accept the bonus without the promotion. Promotions, after all, just meant more work.

She was bent over her desk, looking for the files on her laptop for her next call, when there was a knock on her office door – she was _really_ going to miss having an office with a door – and she looked up to find Stacie hovering by the doorway.

 _Oh_. One day she was going to have to learn to look at Stacie without automatically smiling at the sight of her. "Party's over?"

"Back to work, as they say." Stacie nodded. She entered the room, closing the door behind her, and walked up to the desk, placing a single cupcake on top. "Stole one for you."

Aubrey smiled at her. "Thanks."

Stacie glanced at the pile of work still on Aubrey's desk. "I'm guessing you don't have time to socialize?"

"Client call in seven minutes." Aubrey admitted. She briefly contemplated taking a bite of the cupcake, but quickly remembered she still hadn't found her files for reference.

Stacie pursed her lips, and tilted her head to study the blonde. "I have a question for you."

Aubrey didn't look up from her computer. "Shoot."

"How much trouble will you get into if a former intern kisses you in this office?"

"You're still an intern until the end of the day, you know."

"How much trouble will you get into if a _soon-to-be_ former intern kisses you in this office?"

"So much." Aubrey chuckled, letting out an exclamation of discovery when she found her files. She lifted her gaze, and smiled faintly at Stacie's. "Would probably be worth it, though."

"It'll be the most dangerous game of Seven Minutes in Heaven." Stacie noted.

"And I'm not sure I'll be able to stop at just kissing." Aubrey admitted. She turned to the printer, and waited for her documents.

Stacie made a face. "I know. If you're frustrated, imagine how I feel." She glanced down at Aubrey's desk and sighed wistfully. "And that looks like such a sturdy table, too."

Aubrey laughed. "Maybe one day one of us will have a job where we can have sex on a desk and neither of us can get in trouble."

"I look forward to that day." Stacie told her.

Neither of them addressed the matter of why they were making plans for the future.

Stacie tapped her fingers, and then took a deep breath. "Okay, here's the deal."

Aubrey glanced curiously at her.

"Sex is _so_ much more fun with another person. And I refuse to have to do it by myself if I have the option of doing it with you. So I made a deal with my mom, I can spend the night, but I have to head home tomorrow and you're coming for dinner on Saturday."

There was a long beat in which Aubrey's brain refused to cooperate, the joy and relief (and, okay, lust) at the prospect of having some alone time with Stacie (and, fine, sleeping with Stacie again) immediately replaced with the unbridled panic of sitting down and sharing a meal with Stacie's mother. _With Stacie_ , but the fact remained Stacie's mother would be there as well.

"I'm gonna take that stunned silence as a sign of agreement, and I'm gonna go, I'll see you at your place tonight." Stacie told her. "Turns out I get an allowance for this job, and it isn't much, but for the fun of it, let's say dinner's on me." And with that, she quickly left the room, leaving behind the same stunned silence that had greeted her announcement.

Aubrey stared after her.

And for the first time in a very long time, actually wished she still threw up as a nervous reflex, because that kind of release had to be better than the panic that she wasn't sure would ever abate.

And it didn't.

There was a brief reprieve, those too-few hours of dinner and more with Stacie, but then morning came, and there was work, and when she had time to breathe, she remembered that she was having dinner with Stacie and her mom, and then the panic would return.

It's not that she was terrified of Stacie's mom – anyone who raised a person as great as Stacie couldn't be all bad – or that she felt like anyone would be able to see through her thin veneer of confidence and success and find the insecure ball of nerves that was Aubrey Posen on any given day. Surprisingly, it wasn't even that her relationship history with Stacie was almost entirely based on their sexual chemistry.

Stacie frowned at her, the two of them sitting in the front seats of Aubrey's company car, where Stacie had joined Aubrey after twenty minutes of Aubrey sitting paralyzed in the vehicle after she'd parked in front of Stacie's home. "Look, if you're this stressed out about it, you don't have to—"

"What if I'm not good enough?"

Stacie almost laughed, because Aubrey was smart, hardworking, and cared about Stacie, which was all that mattered to her mom, but then she caught the look on Aubrey's face, and realized that the statement went far deeper than just meeting Stacie's mother. Because it wasn't _what if she doesn't like me_ or _what if I make a bad impression_ , it's not even a _what if she thinks I'm not good enough for you_ , which at least tied in with Aubrey's insistence that _Stacie_ was the impressive one between them; instead it's _what if I'm not good enough_ and Stacie understood that this was a very real concern of Aubrey's, something far deeper that Stacie was yet to understand, and it was enough to keep Aubrey in the car.

"But you're amazing; Why wouldn't you be?" Stacie queried back because she wasn't prone to giving empty platitudes, and was actually curious on how Aubrey perceived herself, beyond the obvious disappointment for things she'd done in the past year, and her loathing for her corporate self.

Because Aubrey's job included removing people from _their_ jobs; or putting employees through training programs that determined whether or not they were put on the promotion track, stayed in their current positions through the next screening period, _or_ they got cut from the employee roster. _And_ she got paid really well for it.

And that was just the job, she imagined the perception of her personal life over the past year couldn't be much better, despite the fact that Stacie still thought pretty well of her.

And Stacie understood all that: she just didn't understand how Aubrey couldn't be _good enough_.

Aubrey didn't answer, and asked instead, "what happened to your dad?"

Stacie frowned.

"I just… it occurred to me, just now, sitting here, that this is something I feel like I should know. Because that's, like, basic information."

"How did you know I got into Georgia Tech?" Stacie asked, instead of answering.

Aubrey was confused. "What does that…"

"Out of curiosity." Stacie added.

Aubrey paused, gazing at her, before sighing. "Small things. But one time, you were having a bad day, and you said something like at least Barden was _paying_ for you to suffer through their classes, because Georgia Tech had just wanted you to suffer."

Stacie paused and frowned, because that sounded like a totally random complaint she aired early on in her academic career in Barden, back when she was just a pretty face in her freshman class and nobody took her seriously. If she had still been tossing around the fact that she'd been accepted at Georgia Tech in her complaining, that must have been _very_ early on. And if she remembered correctly, she'd even doubted that her complaint had registered with her then-Bellas captain. Stacie turned to Aubrey. "Why would you remember that?"

"I had a friend who went to Georgia Tech – actually, he was my Bella captain's boyfriend – and that's how he described his classes. Everything, really. He _suffered_ them. Laura _suffered_ dating him. And we _suffered_ Bella rehearsals." Aubrey explained. "It stood out. Anyway, I knew you were on scholarship, and I put two and two together."

There was a long moment of silence, where Stacie considered the fact that Aubrey had remembered such a random fact about her, and the fact that a mere week earlier, Aubrey had bared her soul to Stacie and shared more than she had probably been willing to. With that in mind, Stacie broke the silence between them. "My dad died when I was eight."

"Oh." Aubrey frowned. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, it's…" Stacie glanced in the direction of her house's front door, as if her mom would know she was talking about her dad, and turned back to Aubrey. "They divorced when I was young… _younger_ , and I guess they were staying together for the sake of the kid, because they got along a whole lot better when they weren't married anymore. But he got a job out of state, and wasn't around much anymore, and then one day his new wife calls up and told us he was in an accident."

"That's…" Aubrey had no idea what the appropriate reaction was, beyond sympathy. Was she supposed to be mad at the then-new wife? Was she supposed to be mad at the man who left Stacie and her mom behind? It was clear from the way Stacie hardly talked about her dad that the man had been important to her, more than just being her father, and Aubrey felt bad that her prying had forced Stacie to talk about him. "Sorry."

Stacie exhaled. "So that's _that_ story."

Silence followed, but the brief confessional had eased some of Aubrey's nerves, and made Stacie consider the fact that Aubrey, who didn't have to do anything she didn't want to do (at least in her personal life), was willing to sit and have dinner with Stacie and her mom, and had wanted to know something Stacie never talked about because she thought it was _basic information_.

Stacie cut a glance at the blonde, who was staring at some point beyond the windshield. "You're really leaving tomorrow?"

"Unfortunately."

"Can I come see you?"

"I think it would be better if you don't." Aubrey turned, giving her a wan smile. "I might be less likely to leave if you do."

"Fine." Stacie pouted. She paused, and thoughtfully tilted her head to the side. "What are you doing on Valentine's Day?"

Aubrey laughed lightly, and gave her a skeptical look. "That's not exactly a holiday, Stacie."

"It's close to Presidents' Day, and it should be."

"I don't know." Aubrey shrugged. "Work, probably. If I'm in the City I'll probably marathon a bunch of romantic comedies."

"Or you can be in Georgia and we'll have some other kind of marathon."

Aubrey laughed. "Are you implying we'll see each other _twice_ in one year?"

"Yeah, I know, right? Such a commitment." Stacie said dryly.

"I don't know, Stacie, won't you get sick of me?" Aubrey asked, her tone joking but the very nature of her question anything but.

"Come on." Stacie cajoled. "We'll be off the high of winning Regionals so the girls will all be too lazy to practice, and if I'm gonna get laid on Valentine's Day, at least you'll get laid, too." She poked Aubrey's arm with her index finger. "You know you want to."

Aubrey _was_ giving it serious thought. "Does it have to be in Georgia? Barden's like a black hole during the winter months."

"I have my own room in the house." Stacie pointed out. "Anywhere else and you're paying for the room."

"Oh, am I?" Aubrey laughed.

"Unless you're not opposed to sex in a car?"

Against all her better instincts, Aubrey glanced briefly at the backseat, but then remembered this was _a_ _company car_.

Stacie burst out laughing. "What kind of monster have I turned you into."

Aubrey rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine. February. It'll probably be just for a weekend, though."

Stacie grinned at her. "Worth it."

"And if I'm shelling out for a room, you better bring your A-game." Aubrey warned.

Stacie gasped in mock-indignation. "Are you saying my game can be anything less?"

"I'm just saying, I better not be disappointed."

"Disapp—" Stacie stopped herself, and glowered at Aubrey. "Oh, I'm gonna get you for that. You're in trouble now, Posen."

Aubrey laughed. "Promises, promises."

"So it's a date? You and me?"

"I'm just curious why you want a date on Valentine's Day."

"Don't flatter yourself. It's a date for Presidents' Day." Stacie reminded cheekily.

"My mistake." Aubrey retorted.

"Ready to meet my mom now?"

Aubrey visibly paled, and her voice dropped to a whisper. "You don't think she heard any of that, do you?"

Stacie laughed, before leaning over to give her a quick kiss. "You're such a dork." She opened her car door, and then walked over to Aubrey's side of the car to pull her out. "Come on, dork. Meet the woman whose daughter you've been defiling."

Aubrey groaned, even as she took Stacie's offered hand and let the taller girl lead her out of the car and pull her towards her house. "Why would you even say that out loud."

Stacie gave her a pointed look. "Have you _met_ me?"

Aubrey made a face at her.

"Also it's true, and you _are_ , and let's face it, total bragging rights."

"Not to your _mother_." Aubrey reminded. "She doesn't need to know any of that."

"Aubrey, I'm making you meet my mom on her invitation." Stacie retorted back. "She kinda already knows."

Oh, _there's_ that nervous reflex.

Stacie noticed Aubrey's body suddenly jerk, the hand in hers tightening its hold, and she stopped to look at her in concern. "Are you gonna puke?"

Aubrey shook her head – because she really _had_ made the (great, extreme, _Herculean_ ) effort to get that reflex under control – but she still kept her mouth covered with her hand, and took a minute to compose herself.

Not that it was easy to keep it under control, because Stacie's mom, while standing shorter than either Stacie or even Aubrey, was still a formidable presence, and even if she was warm and friendly and welcoming, she still also had the discerning gaze of a woman who didn't suffer fools.

Stacie mercifully mediated between her mom and Aubrey, and was mostly successful in her efforts, but even Stacie Conrad couldn't prevent her mother from making her go to the kitchen to keep their plates and get dessert. Shooting a sympathetic look towards Aubrey, Stacie did as ordered and disappeared behind the kitchen door.

"Aubrey."

Here we go.

Aubrey bit her lip, trying to control the nervous tick that usually appeared as a crazed smile, and turned to face the dark-haired, dark-eyed woman who—

—se daughter she was defiling.

 _Damn it._

"Long distance relationships are hard work, as I'm sure you know."

Aubrey sighed inwardly, because she did not need to hear _that_ lecture. She _knew_.

"Stacie, she's…" The former Mrs. Conrad glanced in the direction of the kitchen, and sighed fondly. "She shows great signs of maturity, but she's also, in so many ways, still very young."

Aubrey figured it probably wouldn't bode well for her to agree, considering she was sleeping with said "still very young" woman.

"That, and you travel a lot for work, which I'm sure keeps you busy."

Aubrey had no idea in what direction the conversation was happening now.

"She thinks she knows everything, but she really doesn't." Stacie's mother looked at Aubrey. "You're both in for a lot of ups and downs, and God knows she's stubborn enough to have picked someone as difficult as she can get."

What? "I don't—" Aubrey started, but had no idea how to continue.

Stacie's mother gave Aubrey a look she was very well-acquainted with, having received it at one point or another from pretty much everyone she was close to, that kind of fond exasperation of someone who can't believe there was someone in their life so incredibly clueless; except this time the look was distinctly similar to Stacie's. "She likes the chase, and she won't make it easy for either of you, but we both know there's no reason why some of your frequent flights can't stop over in Georgia."


	13. Chapter 13

It was weird, being back in Barden. She had been attending the university for two years but this time, her third year, it was like looking at the campus with different eyes. Maybe it was the fact that she was an upperclassman, which meant graduation had become a closer reality than before, or maybe it was due to having spent some time with someone who had _left_ Barden, but Barden University just seemed different, somehow.

And to top it all off, she had arrived back in campus and at the Bella House, only to open the door to her bedroom and found her things gone, replaced by racks filled with clothes, and labeled boxes. "What the fuck?"

Jessica came up behind her, and peered over her shoulder into the room. "Oh, yeah. Didn't anyone tell you? We took a vote and since your room was like the smallest, we decided to turn it into storage for our costumes."

"No, no one told me." Stacie frowned, disgruntled. "Why wasn't I informed earlier?"

Jessica looked at her, amused. "Why weren't you 'informed earlier'? What, you have an internship for a few weeks and now you talk like a mature adult? We gonna talk about taxes now?"

Stacie laughed, mostly to ward off further suspicion. "No, for real, why didn't anyone tell me?"

"I don't know." Jessica shrugged. "Miscommunication? Guess we forgot."

Stacie rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but smile, because that sounded just like her friends. "I hate all of you."

Jessica laughed. "Oh, hey: how was Philly? Did they ever let you step foot in R&D?"

"No." Stacie made a face. "LA?"

"Fat Amy's insane." Jessica groaned, as though that one statement could sum up the experience. She grinned at Stacie. "Why don't you get settled in, then you, me and Ashley can go get something to eat, and catch up?"

"Yeah!" Stacie nodded, grinning back, before she stopped, her smile fading to a confused one. "Wait, where's my stuff? And where the hell am I supposed to sleep?"

"Chloe's room."

Stacie wondered if this was the universe's revenge for her sleeping with Aubrey without telling her friends – especially Aubrey's best friend – or if this was a result of her neglecting to tell Aubrey something she now realized was pretty vital.

Jessica noticed the frozen smile on Stacie's face. "Is that OK? I mean, I'm sure Lilly or Flo wouldn't mind trading…"

Stacie's smile became more of a grimace, but what was she supposed to say? "No, of course it's OK. Chloe's great."

Yeah, Aubrey was never going to step foot back in Barden if Stacie could help it.

And, yeah, it basically meant the effort she had put in hauling the mattress from that room and exchanging it for the one in her (previous) bedroom had now been for nothing.

But, oh, all the Skype sex she had planned to connive Aubrey into doing was now apparently going to be one of those things that would never come to pass.

Stacie went to the master bedroom, the one usually reserved for the Barden Bellas' team captain, formerly singularly occupied by Chloe, and knocked tentatively, even though Chloe employed an open-door policy with everyone. Whether the act of knocking was out of courtesy, or Stacie simply trying to delay the inevitable, she wasn't sure.

Chloe opened the door, and beamed brightly at Stacie. "Hiya, roomie!"

Stacie kept that frozen grin on, because if and when Aubrey found out that Stacie had (accidentally) kept this piece of information from her, the blonde was probably never going to have sex with her again. "Weren't you supposed to graduate?"

Chloe's smile was completely guileless. "Yeah… remember how I was supposed to take a few make up tests for those I missed when we'd gone on tour?"

"Yes…"

"And I was supposed to attend summer class?"

"Yes…"

"Remember when I didn't do any of that?"

Stacie was beginning to understand what Aubrey meant when nobody ever said no to Chloe, because that kind of wide-eyed Disney princess look rendered Stacie unable to argue against such actions.

But, Aubrey's impending wrath aside, Chloe actually wasn't that bad of a roommate. Sure, the girl wasn't subtle about when she wanted Stacie to leave the room for a while so she could "listen to Titanium" - as if the Bellas didn't already know why Chloe liked the song so much - or the fact that Stacie could no longer hum in the shower because Chloe liked to barge in when she did, talking about harmonizing or whatnot; but all in all, not a bad roommate.

And Chloe's room had its own bathroom, so no longer having to contend with eight other girls was a blessing.

Despite the new rooming assignment, because sharing a room with someone was always an adjustment, everyone fell back on the same rhythm as they had before, falling back on the same chores and habits.

As Barden University's national pride and glory, the Barden Bellas were front and center for the first week of school activities, every welcome ceremony included at least one song performance, and despite Beca's hesitation to make changes to their collective sound, and Chloe's reluctance to the possible changes to their group dynamics, the Bellas were mandated to hold and attend auditions, so they attended the activities fair.

The previous year, fresh off their ICCA victory and tour, they hadn't had any problems getting interested parties to sign up to audition for the Bellas, and at the time, Beca, Chloe, and the rest of the Bellas had been more than willing to grow their ranks to see what they could accomplish musically. But based on their interactions during the activity fair and during auditions, only one person had made enough of an impression to be voted into the group. Flo Fuentes had seamlessly joined the group, and after a year, Stacie understood why Beca was hesitant to include new members: because they all each had their parts down, and Beca, Lilly and Cynthia Rose had mastered how to break down a song into ten parts. Adding a new member could, and most likely _would_ , change that. And after two years together, they all knew each other pretty well, and the smallest change, just the _possibility_ of adding a new member, could mess with the whole dynamic of the group.

And they all knew that, so they could be forgiven if they made up the shallowest of excuses not to take in new members, even though Denise meekly pointed out that she was graduating at the end of the year and would need to be replaced.

Stacie was a little concerned that it had been Chloe who shot down that concern with the dismissive remark that until such time arrived that Denise was no longer with the group, _only then_ would they consider replacing her. She took little comfort in the fact that only she and Beca seemed concerned about Chloe's offensive stance against the mere _concept_ of Denise's graduation.

Because she and Beca have been awkward around each other, and have been avoiding each other since they got back on campus. The fact that they had secrets between them should have been a bonding point, but it wasn't, because Beca was clearly conflicted about something – Stacie wasn't sure if Beca wanted to address her secret, or Stacie's – but Stacie was reluctant to talk about her secret, and if Beca was expecting Stacie to approach her first, the girl was seriously mistaken.

On the surface, everything about Stacie's life in Barden was the same. Stacie went to her classes, hung out with her friends, went to the library to study (because no studying was ever accomplished in the Bella house), and attended the many (many) parties that the Barden Bellas were invited to. The classes were a little harder than before, now that the classes weren't general subjects anymore, but save for a few really boring lectures by monotone-voiced professors, Stacie still enjoyed the process of learning. The Bellas, despite their outrageous behavior and general recklessness, were still the best friends any girl could ask for, who never judged and always encouraged the borderline illegal.

Everything seemed the same, but Stacie knew differently. Life in Barden University's campus, almost overnight, had changed for her.

The coffee cart near the Art building was a godsend, and she eyed the Engineering building with mild trepidation, and there was always the nagging question of where the hell the Music Conservatory was.

And she missed Aubrey.

More than ever, more than before.

Stacie had been too caught up in the rush of the first few weeks of school that she hadn't really had the time or focus to _miss_ Aubrey. She still did, of course, usually while she was walking around campus, remembering comments Aubrey had made about the different landmarks, and even once during auditions when one of the girls looked like she was about ready to throw up when Beca asked her a question before her audition, but it wasn't until the riff-offs that Stacie realized just how much she really missed the blonde.

Before Aubrey left Philadelphia, they had both reluctantly admitted that summer (or February, for that matter) was just too far away. But they still hadn't had any good answers. Aubrey had pointed out that it was easy to promise a commitment while they were still standing face to face, but what about when Stacie got back to campus, and Aubrey was off somewhere for her job? Surrounded by other people, with faces both new and familiar, could either of them honestly say that they would still want the other the way they did while they were together? Aubrey had learned her lesson, but was Stacie willing to make that kind of change?

Stacie hadn't had an answer, while Aubrey had smiled knowingly. Still, though, she offered Stacie an opportunity for their relationship to either move forward, or the both of them to move on. Get used to being back in Georgia, meet her new classmates, get through auditions, and be settled as a college junior. If Stacie still felt the same way after Hood Night, and even more so by riff-offs, Stacie had her number.

And on that very night, Stacie sat at the edge of the empty pool, overlooking the way the different a cappella groups mingled. Since the Bellas and the Treblemakers called a truce, by virtue of their captains dating, riff-offs had become a lot more fun and freewheeling, a lot less competitive and hostile. At the end of it, after the Bellas won it for the second straight year, all the groups freely interacted. Watching Kori and Denise talk to Benji, though, Stacie was suddenly hit by a curious thought, and took her phone out from where it was carefully tucked in her dress.

Aubrey answered on the second ring. "Aubrey Posen's phone."

"Whoa, seriously?"

"Yes, seriously. How may I be of service?"

"Yes, I'd like to be serviced."

"Funny."

Stacie grinned, but then quickly remembered part of the reason why she had called. "Quick question: Why do you hate the Trebles so much?"

"Because they're vile and massive dirtballs, and I stand by the statement that I won't touch you again if you let them touch you."

"Oh, trust me, I like you touching me very much."

There was a pause, and then Aubrey hushed out, "I'm kind of stuck at work, so I can't right now."

"I'm at the pool, surrounded by a cappella geeks, so I _really_ 'can't right now'."

Another pause. "The pool?"

"Riff-offs."

"It's riff-offs already?"

"Yes."

"Huh."

" _Yes_."

When Stacie wasn't forthcoming about why her call happening on the night of the riff-offs was relevant, and because she wasn't ready to guess at what Stacie had decided about _their_ relationship, Aubrey sighed at the thought of The Treblemakers. "The Treblemakers have a history of sabotaging the Bellas."

"Sabotage?" Which was weird, because the Barden Bellas had only gotten to the ICCA finals for the first time only three years ago.

"Before they started making it to the ICCA finals and winning it, the Bellas were the bigger deal in Barden's a cappella community." Aubrey told her. "When the Trebles started winning, it became really competitive.

"Before my time, one of them dated the two co-captains and told them about what he was doing right before Semis. That was why the rule is in place, just as a blanket rule against that kind of thing happening again." Aubrey continued. "But when we were freshmen, one of the Trebles - not that we'd known it at the time, because Bumper and the rest of his ilk made sure they kept it a secret from us - was dating a Bella, we found out it was because she was our best singer and had a really versatile voice. Around the time of Regionals, he gave her mono, and screwed up our set. And then Bumper gave him a solo during their set in the next round, just to rub it in. And, well, you've met Bumper."

Stacie frowned. "Chloe never told us any of that."

"I don't think Chloe knows."

"And you never told her?"

"Chloe... skipped a lot of rehearsals during freshman and sophomore year."

"So she doesn't know why you hate the Trebles this much?"

"She knows they're massive dirtballs, which is all you really need to know."

"Some of them aren't so bad."

"Yeah, but," Aubrey's voice was tired. "One bad apple, and all that."

"But you liked Unicycle."

"And I have no doubt that Bumper would have used that against the Bellas inevitably." Aubrey admitted. "They're your friends, I get that. Donald was kind of OK when he wasn't around Bumper. But teams take on the character of their leaders, Stacie. And the entire time I've known them, Bumper was their leader. And Bumper Allen is… well…"

"A massive douchebag?" Stacie supplied. She quietly apologized to her friend, who was kind-of/sort-of dating said douchebag: _Sorry, Fat Amy_.

"He's… _Bumper_." The way Aubrey said his name dripped with absolute contempt and loathing.

Stacie had to concede that point, and changed the subject. "Why are you at work this late on a Friday?"

"Performance assessment module for the management fast track." Aubrey answered, as if reciting from text, which she probably was.

"And for those of us not paid to make up fancy business terms?"

"I'm somehow supposed to draw up plans on how to predict a person's ability to lead based on their current performance in a non-leadership role."

"How are you supposed to do that?"

"Baby, if I knew, I wouldn't be stuck at work."

Stacie bit her lower lip to keep from grinning. She failed. "You called me 'baby'."

"I'm tired, I don't know what I'm saying." Aubrey grumbled. A beat, and then she added, "Baby."

Stacie laughed. "Such a dork. What are you wearing?"

"Why do you want to know?"

Stacie rolled her eyes, because she just didn't know anymore if Aubrey was purposefully being obtuse, or really just clueless. "Do I need to say it out loud?"

"Maybe," Aubrey's tone turned coy. "Because that question breaches our agreement."

"Mmhmm, yeah, now that you mention it, I'd like to breach something."

"That…" And back to clueless. "That doesn't make sense."

"It's a simple question, Aubrey."

"You're playing with fire, Stacie."

"I already know we're hot together."

Aubrey faltered, because damn it, she wasn't nearly as good at this as Stacie. So instead, she diverted the conversation. "Didn't we make a deal about us and phone calls?"

"About missing out on college fun waiting for my girlfriend to call?"

"Something to that effect, yes."

"You're not my girlfriend." Stacie pointed out. "I'm at the pool. At a party. Having fun. Not missing out. I win. What are you wearing?"

Aubrey grumbled adorably, because Stacie had a point. "Jeans and a button-up."

"Casual." Stacie observed.

"Casual Friday." Aubrey informed her. "What are _you_ wearing?"

"Sundress." Stacie answered, suddenly grinning, because she knew how much Aubrey liked it when she wore a skirt.

"You're killing me."

"So I shouldn't tell you about its thin straps, or the jacket I'm wearing with it?" Even through the line, Stacie could hear the audible whimper, and she smiled in satisfaction. "Or how it's pretty cold out, so the girls up front are kinda—"

Aubrey groaned, cutting her off. "You're terrible."

Stacie laughed. "Still can't right now?"

Aubrey hesitated, and then drew out, "No..?"

Stacie laughed, before letting her voice peter out to light chuckles. "Hey, Aubrey?"

"Yeah?"

"I don't want to wait for February."

There was a pause, before Aubrey cleared her throat. "Hey Stacie, you wanna see the ball drop in Times Square?"

"You hate crowds."

"We'll tick it off from one of those Things to Do Before You Die lists." Aubrey reasoned.

"You know that means Christmas with my mom." Stacie said jokingly, but also in warning.

"I figured as much."

"And maybe you can get to unwrap _this_ present." Stacie teased, unnecessarily trying to sweeten the deal.

"There's a ban on sex in your house!" Aubrey exclaimed, because, yes, she wasn't living down the mortification of having Stacie's mother telling her about said rule, with a very pointed, very _knowing_ , look in her direction.

Stacie clucked her tongue, amused. "You have a _terrible_ one-track mind, Miss Posen."

"See if _you_ get any presents, Miss Conrad."

"Mmm, I like that. You should call me that some time."

"You're incorrigible."

"Still _can't_ right now?" Stacie teased.

The answer Aubrey gave was surprising, but very much welcome. "I already left the office. Give me ten minutes?"

Stacie glanced around the pool, at the party still going on, and realized that if the Barden Bellas were all at the riff-offs, then that meant the Bella house would be empty. "I'll call you back."


	14. Chapter 14

Two things, about sharing a room with Chloe: Chloe understood the value of needing some "alone time", and only required something draped on the doorknob outside to indicate if they were "busy"; a rule that had been passed on to the rest of the occupants of the house. And Chloe loved to party but was a lightweight when it came to alcohol, which meant it wasn't out of the question for her to stumble home with her fellow Bellas and pass out on one of the sofas in the living room.

The night of the riff-offs, the latter was what Stacie was extremely grateful for, because Chloe never made it back to their room, and nobody had to know that Stacie's early disappearance from the party had been because she'd headed home for some quality "alone" time; and because nobody knew she had been in her room all along, nobody had to know that she _hadn't_ left the party to hook up with anyone from the mixer, although she implied it when they teased her about it.

The night of the riff-offs was not the end of Stacie's phone calls with Aubrey, but the start, including a rapid exchange of text messages that usually ensued in the most private of moments, and Stacie, who had always been open and honest about her sexual experiences, realized just why some people considered illicit relationships so hot, because sneaking around – to have _phone_ sex! (oh how the mighty have fallen) – had its own thrill; but still a turn on all on its own.

"You know, technically, these calls kind of negate the whole point of not being in a relationship." Aubrey noted one night, when Chloe had crashed with Jessica and Ashley watching a marathon of The Bachelor, inadvertently allowing Stacie to get some quality phone time alone in the room.

Stacie, still trying to recover her breath, groaned in response. "You _really_ need to work on your pillow talk."

"What can I say? The rush on endorphins does a number on my thought processes."

Stacie rolled her eyes. "We're not doing it right if you can say endorphins right after."

"I think we're doing it pretty great."

"I know I didn't hear you complaining."

"And I never would."

Stacie remembered Aubrey's earlier comment about their calls. "You want to stop calling?"

"Do you?"

Stacie closed her eyes, because for whatever reason, they both kept asking that question, and refused to answer directly. This time, it was her turn to move the conversation along. "Weren't you the one with the shitty pillow talk?"

"Since we only call for a specific reason, is that even really a breach of the agreement?" Aubrey mused, ignoring the question while still proving Stacie's accusation true. "Or is this technically friends-with-benefits by telephony?"

"We sext, too."

"Point."

"Hey Aubrey?"

"Yes, Stacie?"

"This was fun, but I have an early class tomorrow, so I'm hanging up now."

"Okay. And it was my pleasure."

"Mmm, yeah, the pleasure was all mine." Stacie purred, making them both laugh before they mutually hung up.

Maybe she gets it, in retrospect, why Aubrey had tried to keep their previous phone conversations, almost a year ago, on neutral topics like school and work, because now that they had more ground to cover conversationally, Stacie was quickly discovering that they could turn any topic into a reason to flirt, and the flirtation, even Aubrey's awful ability at it, escalated to the point that phone sex was almost inevitable.

But she also understood Aubrey's point, about missing out on fun. She hadn't realized until she was trying to sneak in time to make or take phone calls, working around the seemingly non-stop series of parties and mixers by the different organizations, that Aubrey was right: the Barden Bellas had a social calendar that didn't allow for a lot of down time. And she also got Aubrey's point, about why she doubted Stacie was ready for a _relationship_ , when she was surrounded by boys and girls all willing to hook up on a casual basis.

But then there was the question of why Aubrey wasn't sure they could survive a long-distance relationship.

Stacie had no idea why Aubrey refused to force the issue, always reiterating that she didn't want to force a relationship if they both had hesitations on making that kind of commitment. After all, they both liked a challenge, and what would be a bigger challenge for both of them than maintaining a relationship when every consideration indicated their inevitable failure? But Aubrey insisted, and Stacie went back and forth on just how much she was willing to be in a committed relationship with someone who wasn't going to be around, so they remained in their current relationship limbo, sort of together, but _not quite_.

Although she hadn't taken Aubrey's warnings or precautions seriously – she knew her own strengths and weaknesses, thank you very much, and yes, she liked sex, but just because some hot guy or girl looked in her direction didn't mean she was going to make out or hook up with them. After all, she really only enjoyed the conquest because it was there to be had, it wasn't like she _needed to_ , or some other sad sex addict excuse there was. But then there was also a part of her that rebelled against total commitment, and it was that same part of her that refused to force the issue herself and face down Aubrey's obvious reluctance and confront her about it; and that part of her took Aubrey's hesitation and ran with it.

She never stopped to consider the fact that in the past few weeks, particularly when it came to sex, she had spent more time on her phone than actually engaging with anyone physically. While she liked to flirt and make out with people at the various parties she attended, few of her activities escalated past an isolated corner of the room, and on the rare occasion that it did, when she found herself alone in a room with anyone, things tended to stop at second base.

Since Stacie was rarely ever one to stay the night with her conquests, usually making it home to avoid the walk of shame the next morning, none of the other Bellas caught on to the fact that Stacie wasn't having nearly as much sex as she usually did.

But Stacie knew. And Stacie knew exactly where to pin the blame.

"Aubrey Posen's phone."

"I hate you so much right now."

"Okay." Aubrey answered easily. "But for the sake of the imaginary men and women of the jury, what did I do?"

"You know what you did!"

"I—"

"I don't want a relationship, Aubrey!" Stacie whined.

Aubrey was confused. "I know…?"

"I don't like the pressure! Not monogamy, or routine sex, or having to wait for the other person to 'feel like it'."

"I know."

"No, you don't! Because I was fine. I like sex, and that's all I wanted from these randos who look like a good time. I enjoyed that. And then you came along, with your stupid face and your stupid smile and your stupid perfect hair." Stacie complained. "And you suck, because you're there – wherever you are right now - and I'm here, and I'm surrounded by people who want to hook up and _I don't want to_."

"That isn't so bad…"

"That _is_ exactly that bad, Aubrey. I _always_ want to. That's kind of my thing."

"I don't—"

"So I have a plan." Stacie cut her off.

"A plan?"

"Yeah. You like plans, don't you?"

"Will it solve the reason why you hate me?"

"Maybe."

"And what does it involve?"

"You and me."

"That's it?"

"Beds are optional."

"Tell me your plans, Stacie Conrad."

Stacie glanced around the backyard of one of the fraternity houses, where that night's party was being held, and once she was sure nobody was within earshot, resumed her phone conversation. "Right. So, we know you suck at relationships and I don't even like the word, right?"

"…Sure?" Aubrey's voice was uncertain.

"Yeah, okay, so I'm thinking, what if we _weren't_ in a relationship?"

Constant phone sex _did not_ a relationship make, after all.

"Which would be different from our current standing how?"

"Hear me out." Stacie sat down on one of the recliners near the edge of the yard, away from the crowd. She put up her feet, and took a moment to appreciate her legs, and _yeah_ , they really were pretty nice. "Long-distance relationships require a lot – a _lot_ – from people, so I'm thinking we won't be."

"Again, how-?"

"And really, the only time we'll even _be_ in some kind of a relationship is when there's no distance between us."

"That…" Aubrey was genuinely confused, and her tone expressed that. "We're not all geniuses like you, Stacie, you're gonna have to dumb it down for me."

"I don't know how much dumber 'no distance between us' has to be."

"You mean, like if we plan to be in the same place at the same time?" Aubrey asked blankly, because wasn't that already the standing agreement about New Year's Eve, and President's Day, and next summer?

The confession practically forced its way out of Stacie's lips. "I'm saying I miss you and I want to see you."

"I miss you too." Was Aubrey's lousy attempt at a proper response.

And this girl graduated with honor cords. " _I'm saying_ we should hook up when you're nearby." Stacie finally stated flatly, because _geez_ Aubrey could be dense. "But only near Barden; beyond, I don't know, a few miles, and you're gonna pay for the bus."

There was a pause, Aubrey obviously caught off-guard by both the proposal and the implications of what Stacie was telling her, followed by a dull "Huh." Which was the blunt, blanket statement that was Aubrey's reaction to Stacie's pitch.

Stacie bit her lip nervously, waiting for judgment. It was a huge ask, she knew, since it was still kind of a commitment, but like any good friends-with-benefits agreement, keeping only the fun stuff without the emotional entanglements.

After all, they were emotionally-entangled enough, no need to complicate matters further.

"And this goes both ways?"

"Theoretically. But you're a hard woman to pin down, Aubrey." Stacie paused, reconsidered, and smiled to herself. "Well, location-wise. _I_ know how to pin you down."

Aubrey wisely chose to ignore picking up that thread. "And the expectations?"

"Pretty much just sex."

"And food."

"Never letting me live that down?"

"Not really."

"And food." Stacie confirmed.

"Huh."

"Yeah."

There was a long pause, and even through the line Stacie could hear Aubrey absently tapping her pen, obviously working out the pros and cons of Stacie's proposition and wondering about the long-term consequences of a proposal that made it seem so easy.

"Huh."

Stacie lifted an eyebrow, because other than the occasional utterance, the prolonged silence didn't provide a clear indication on where Aubrey was in the decision-making process, or which side she was inclined to lean towards.

Finally, the tapping stopped and Aubrey cleared her throat.

"What's the distance radius?"

Stacie grinned, and settled in, ignoring the party around her, to discuss the details of her proposal.

All of which was easy enough in theory, but there _were_ complications. Among which was the fact that Stacie lived with nine other girls, most of whom liked to gossip, and among those nine girls were two of the nosiest women Stacie had ever known, and she knew _nothing_ would get past Chloe and Fat Amy, especially if they put Lilly on the job.

So discretion had to be the watch word.

Which was already a problem, because maybe nothing had changed for Stacie, at least not on the surface – she still went to class, attended parties, made out with whomever at said parties – but it was becoming increasingly hard to ignore that there _were_ some changes.

Like the fact that Stacie was constantly on her phone, typing away, even when the Barden Bellas were all together and none of them could figure out who could be demanding so much of Stacie's time or attention. Or the fact that Stacie, who was on the honor roll and could skip out on any of her classes – which she used to do to either catch up on sleep or hook up in the middle of the day – was suddenly a stickler for attendance.

There was also the fact that they could ask all they want, but any questions regarding her internship the past summer was met by vague answers and general statements. When Fat Amy teased her about hooking up with yuppie assholes, Stacie had glared her down in a way that had everyone silently vowing not to ask any more questions about her internship, Fat Amy retreating, Beca frowning in contemplation, and Chloe being reminded of someone whose calls were growing fewer and farther in between.

Stacie didn't know it, but she would have to thank the ICCAs for letting her keep her indiscretions for a little while longer, because one day The Treblemakers received an official letter that they were going to be moved to another bracket to allow more diversity in Regionals results. Because the announcement made the Bellas and the Treblemakers stop being rivals until the ICCA Finals, it was considered enough reason to celebrate.

And they did.

The party itself wasn't enough of a distraction, but the fact that The Treblemakers weren't their competition until the final round of the ICCAs had Jesse convincing Beca that she could help them with their set, which not only answered Stacie's unasked question of whether or not Beca and Jesse were still together, but also had Chloe arguing that it was technically helping the enemy. Watching Beca - whose capacity to handle any emotional turmoil and confrontation was almost non-existent - trying to deal with both her boyfriend and best friend, and trying to keep them at peace, was pretty funny for everyone not named Beca Mitchell. But the Bellas were left with no choice but to mediate between their co-captains, and by the time Aubrey was expected in Birmingham, the Bellas were all but ready to take a break from their two captains, and most of them decided to take the weekend off. Jessica and Ashley head to Louisiana to visit Ashley's family, Denise and Lilly go with Chloe to Florida to visit Chloe's family, while the rest stay in Georgia.

Stacie told them she was visiting a friend out of town and technically, not a lie.

Aubrey had been in Birmingham for two days, and having settled everything that needed to be done in the state, could have headed home over the weekend. A potential new client, however, had requested a meeting for Monday, and since she was authorized to conduct such client interviews, she had to stay. Sure, she could have entertained herself for two days, but why should she if having Stacie as company was an option?

But as relieved as she was to see Stacie step out of the bus terminal – and she already knew Stacie would give her an earful about the five-hour trip – and she knew the hug they shared was more than just _friendly_ , it was still _Alabama_ and Aubrey knew how the charade was played in the South; she ignored the weird look Stacie kept giving her as she talked about the weather, the city, the hotel where she was staying. They stopped at a diner to get something to eat, and still Aubrey insisted on only talking about school and work and _wasn't Alabama nice_ , to which Stacie could only force a confused smile back, because the flow of conversation was oddly reminiscent of their stilted phone calls after Aubrey had graduated.

Except Stacie had learned a few things about Aubrey from their few weeks together that summer, and she had learned to accept that Aubrey was just weird sometimes. She had also learned that Aubrey was someone who liked to put on a front, a carefully-crafted personality or demeanor, for a reason, and if she was playing up the overly-casual, we're-just-friends-catching-up show, then she was doing it with purpose.

Because the girl wouldn't even hold her hand, or helped her carry her bag, and wouldn't shut up the entire elevator trip up from the parking area to her floor, and Stacie was already reconsidering the wisdom of this trip, if Aubrey was going to regress to we're-just-friends territory.

Except the minute the door closed behind them, blocking out the rest of the world, Aubrey turned to Stacie and wrapped her up in a hug. "I'm sorry. I've missed you. That was horrible, I know, and I'm really so sorry."

Stacie let out a relieved chuckle, returning the embrace, although she had to query, "What the hell?"

She didn't even need to look at Aubrey to know the blonde rolled her eyes. "Alabama votes Republican."

Stacie laughed softly. "So you're gonna talk about the Alabama climate every time we leave the room?"

"Yes."

This time, Stacie rolled her eyes. "Good to know from the start we're not leaving this room."

Aubrey gave a soft laugh. "A solid plan."

"I think we're both liking this plan so far."

"You _are_ the smarter person in this room."

The hug lasted a long moment later, and they finally pulled apart to gaze at each other. Their gazes took each other in, flickering over familiar features, observing what had changed and what remained the same, before their eyes finally met and a flicker of a smile quirked the corner of Aubrey's lips.

Before Aubrey could say anything – and knowing Aubrey it could only lead to a long conversation or even an argument – Stacie ducked her head, and pressed her lips to Aubrey's, the blonde immediately parting her lips to deepen their kiss.

Maybe it was the realization that the five-hour trip had been worth it, or that they were _here_ , and they were _together_ , but having Aubrey's lips on hers, their mouths pressed together and their tongues sliding against each other in a promise of things still to come, Stacie felt her body relax, sighing contentedly.

And Aubrey felt it, the way the tension left Stacie's form, the way she softened and melted against Aubrey, the way everything that had been building up in the younger woman took form in that one breath. The way the contented sigh left Stacie's lips and into their kiss.

The way it felt an awful lot like the first real breath Aubrey had taken since she left Philadelphia.


	15. Chapter 15

Stacie prided herself for her spontaneity, her ability to go with the flow and make any adjustments to make the most out of any situation; and there had been a time in her life where sticking to a rigid schedule would have made her hesitate and just drop the whole thing. And for all of Aubrey's efforts to slow things down, including the absence of any kind of communication between herself and Stacie for the first few weeks of the new school year, things pretty much escalated from that first phone call the night of riff-offs, leading up to Stacie's trip to Birmingham to see her.

The next time Stacie met up with Aubrey was in Nashville, a few weeks later, and because Beca and Chloe still bickered like a married couple too stubborn to file for a divorce (and she would know), Stacie had barely provided her friends with an excuse for her leaving, and just told Cynthia-Rose and Denise that she had business out of town and the two of them hadn't even bothered to ask questions.

After that was Columbus, where Aubrey spent more time arguing on her phone than entertaining Stacie, but that was how they learned that Stacie found Aubrey's authoritative side very attractive, as long as the yelling was directed somewhere else, so it hadn't been an entirely wasted weekend.

It wasn't the most ideal of situations, and the fact that Stacie had to lie by omission to her friends just to be able to go on those trips was enough evidence against the whole thing, but by some strange twist of fate, it just _worked_. _They_ just worked.

It helped, obviously, that she and Aubrey didn't talk about their relationship, or that neither of them asked for more than their scheduled rendezvous; Aubrey didn't always ask Stacie to make the trip even when she was within travelling distance, and Stacie didn't always agree to go just because Aubrey was nearby. It was a relationship borne out of convenience, and they meet, they have a good time, and they part ways with only a promise to keep in touch and hope for a next time.

They now called each other fairly often, and over time, they both become blissfully unaware that they had developed a schedule for their phone calls, removing the possibility that one or the other would be too busy to make or take the call. Stacie called on Tuesday nights after the worst of her lab classes, with a professor who seemed to loathe her very being for reasons unspecified, and talking to Aubrey helped remind her that there was someone in the world who found her _impressive_ and _fascinating_ , and Aubrey had become someone she can just _complain_ to, and not have her complaints rationalized, because Aubrey knew that sometimes holding one's opinions back had its own value, and Aubrey also didn't have the time or patience to figure out why someone was obviously committing a serious error in judgment by disliking Stacie Conrad; but nonetheless insisted that Stacie should keep a record of the professor's obvious bias.

On Stacie's part, she allotted Thursday nights to listen to Aubrey complain about her week and the inevitable Friday night social events that she still needed to show up at because her friends insist. Aubrey had been picking and choosing which friends she wanted to keep, and telling Stacie about how she felt about certain people helped enlighten her on whether or not she wanted to keep them in her life. And in its own way, the exercise also provided Stacie some comfort that she had some vague idea of who were in Aubrey's life, the people she called her friends, and was reassured that Aubrey wasn't adding to her list of _names and dates_.

To a casual observer, it held a lot of the markers of a relationship, but both women would balk at such a suggestion and vehemently deny it.

It's not that they weren't aware of the irony, it was simply a matter of choosing to live in ignorance and denial, especially since they both knew, given their luck and track records, their ignorant bliss came with a timer.

Aubrey knew that letting things get so far so fast could only lead to trouble, especially since she was one half of the relationship, and for all of Stacie's bravado, Aubrey could tell the very _idea_ of an official relationship freaked Stacie out. But Aubrey had learned a few things, during her self-imposed exile from the Barden Bellas, and the truth of the matter was that she would rather be in relationship limbo with Stacie Conrad than pining for the girl while distracting herself with other people, as she had during the past year.

It was why she found herself in Georgia on Halloween night, sitting under one of the tents at a public event, checking on the status of an ongoing negotiation deal she had just left behind in Florida, having been replaced by someone higher up in the figurative Oversight food chain and enough clout with their boss and the rest of the board to negotiate beyond the previously-decided figures. In an exchange that totally worked in Aubrey's favor, she had been instructed to travel to Georgia for an event that the company was sponsoring, in a thinly-veiled attempt at recruiting soon-to-be-graduates from Georgia Tech.

In a pleasant surprise, one of the managers from their local office was someone she'd known from Barden, so despite having to work that weekend, she had a friendly face to deal with.

And she needed the preoccupation, because since her trip to Georgia was made at the last minute, she hadn't been able to make plans with Stacie, whose Halloween night was pretty much filled up by the parties she would be attending with the rest of the Barden Bellas. The last time they had spoken, Stacie had been telling her that the Arts and Drama group had started an annual event of hosting a haunted house party every Halloween, and had sounded excited about the prospect of what the group would be doing this year. So catching up with Dave at the scavenger hunt was a very welcome distraction, one she hoped would be enough to prevent her from making the trip to Barden to see Stacie and making a mess of their carefully-crafted not-quite relationship.

However.

Best-laid plans, and everything.

Aubrey was on her way back to the booth where she and Dave were with the technical team assigned to keep track of each team's progress, having momentarily gone to figure out where the facilities were ahead of the official start of the night's events, when a body pressed up behind her, and a very familiar voice whispered in her ear, "You're supposed to be in Florida."

"You're supposed to be at a haunted house party." Aubrey reminded, slowing her pace but not turning to greet Stacie, not knowing if Stacie had friends with her.

"My lab partner got an invitation from her boyfriend to join a scavenger hunt." Stacie answered. "And we know how much I love the hunt."

Aubrey's pace grew even slower. "So the Bellas-?"

"Are still in Barden."

Aubrey turned immediately, and easily captured Stacie's lips in a bruising kiss that was very nearly inappropriate for such a public place. Stacie, however, only responded eagerly, uncaring of the crowd, well aware that they were within proximity of a university in a college town, and if Aubrey had concerns about their surroundings, she wouldn't be so blasé with showing her affection.

Eventually, the kiss slowed, awareness of their surroundings seeping in, and Aubrey broke the kiss reluctantly. She gave Stacie one last quick kiss before taking a half step back to stop herself from kissing Stacie again. "Hi."

Stacie grinned at her. "I've missed you, too."

Aubrey smiled even as she shook her head in bemusement. "I think I just got you disqualified from the game."

Stacie faltered, her grin fading, because on one hand, she really liked scavenger hunts, but on the other hand, being ineligible to play meant spending time with Aubrey. "Worth it?"

"Top prize are gift cards to each team member, for use in almost every establishment in Atlanta." Aubrey told her flatly.

Stacie winced, because that was a good deal.

Aubrey nodded her agreement. "If I had known this existed when I was in school, I could be a scavenger hunt champion by now."

Stacie scoffed. "You wouldn't understand half the clues, and take them literally."

Aubrey opened her mouth to argue, but realized quickly that Stacie had a point. She frowned. "This is why I like Math."

"I thought you like Math because you like making money."

"I like making money _because_ I like Math." Aubrey corrected.

Stacie scrutinized her. "You should like Math for the greater good."

Aubrey shrugged her shoulders. "My financial stability counts as a greater good."

"Baby, you're the greatest good there is." Stacie laughed, and squeezed Aubrey's hand, which she hadn't even realized she'd started holding at one point. She motioned over her shoulder at the giant poster announcing that night's scavenger hunt. "So do you like have any insider tips on how to win this game?"

Aubrey gasped in mock horror. "Are you asking for insider information?"

Stacie shrugged. "I _literally_ used the word 'insider'."

"Oh my God, stick to academia or research, you'll be in court sooner than a subpoena can be served." Aubrey advised her. "And, I don't even know what's going on, I wasn't even supposed to be here."

What a convenient reminder. Stacie frowned at her. "Yeah, you said you were going to be stuck in Florida. So what are you doing here?"

Aubrey rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Negotiations went beyond my pay scale. We traded weekend duties."

Stacie's eyes sparkled with mischief and arousal. And when she next spoke, her voice was laced with lust. "You're here for the weekend?"

Aubrey bit her lower lip, holding back a whine, because she still had a job to do and Stacie's voice was making her reconsider the moral high ground. And her stance on public indecency. "Until Tuesday night, actually."

Stacie's eyebrow lifted curiously. "Five days?"

Aubrey shrugged. "I wasn't going to question their decisions."

Stacie pursed her lips thoughtfully, making Aubrey's gaze fall upon the taller girl's mouth before snapping back up. Stacie smirked at her obviousness. "We can do a lot in five days."

"There's a party after the hunt through the early morning, so actually more like four, and you have classes." Aubrey reminded.

"Skip the party."

"Ahh, no, because there'll be dancing and there's a gay boy I'm talking to who can dance with me if you won't."

"I can skip classes?" Stacie suggested meekly.

Aubrey gave her a skeptical look. "Two straight days?"

Stacie shrugged. "You'll have to go to work sometimes, too."

Aubrey laughed. "Thanks for considering my continued employment."

"According to you, I should stick to academia, and there's no money in teaching, and very few in research. You'll have to support my needs, Aubrey." Stacie reminded, grinning, something in her buoyed by Aubrey's lighthearted laughter.

"And what am I getting out of supporting your needs?"

"Constant sex?" Stacie offered.

"Good to know." Aubrey smiled back.

Their conversation was suddenly interrupted by the crackle of the PA system, making them and everyone else in the area pause for the public announcement that the game was about to start, and for its participants to gather with their registered groups.

Stacie turned back to Aubrey. "That's my cue."

"I'm with the technical team."

Stacie paused, frowning at her in confusion because she was pretty sure Aubrey was almost technologically-illiterate, but shrugged it off and gave her a quick kiss. "We'll pick this up later."

"I'll be waiting."

Stacie grinned, and kissed her again, before darting off to find her lab partner and her friends.

The next morning, Stacie was startled awake by her phone's incessant ringing, and frowned in confusion as she took in her unfamiliar surroundings. "What—"

And then she noticed the mess of blond hair in front of her, and she remembered. She took a moment to bask in the memory of the night before, and the early hours of morning, and how nice it was to fall asleep beside Aubrey. Laughing softly to herself, Stacie tightened her arms around Aubrey, and was answered with muted mumbling.

At which point her phone rang again.

"It's Saturday," Aubrey whined, reaching behind her to tap Stacie's face in what she was sure was supposed to be a gentle manner, but instead landed heavily. "Make it stop."

Stacie rolled her eyes and sat up, looking around Aubrey's hotel room for her phone. Guided by the stop and start of its ringing, she finally found it, and answered immediately. "What?"

"Oh good, you're okay." Was the first thing Denise, who was calling, said. And then, clearly not addressing Stacie, announced, "Guys, I got her. She's okay."

Stacie frowned. "Of course I'm okay. What are you talking about?"

"You didn't—hey!"

"Where are you?" Chloe demanded, clearly having grabbed Denise's phone from her. "Are you safe? Do you need bail money? A ride home? You're not talking, say 'what' if you're in trouble. Go."

"What?"

"I'm calling 911." Chloe declared, before there was another scuffle, and a shriek, and then Beca next came on the line.

"Let- go!"

And then there were more noises on Beca's end of the line, several voices yelling "Calm down!" or "Hold her down!" until finally there was an unmistakable Tasmanian holler, and another shriek, before things finally settled down enough for Beca to be heard again.

Beca sounded exhausted. "Hey, are you okay?"

"I'm fine. What's going on?" Stacie asked, confused.

"You didn't come home last night, and when you didn't show up for rehearsals this morning, we got worried." Beca told her. They usually didn't have rehearsals on Saturdays, but in an attempt to appease Chloe about helping Jesse and the rest of The Treblemakers, Beca had agreed to extra rehearsals to keep the Bellas in top form. That Saturday was supposed to be the start of weekend rehearsals.

Stacie glanced at the time, and winced. "Sorry."

"But you're fine?"

"Yeah, I, uh…"

There was a hint of a smile in Beca's voice when she next spoke. "Got distracted?"

"You could say that, yeah."

"And you're cool?" Which encompassed every concern Beca thought herself to be too emotionally-withholding to actually voice out loud.

Stacie smiled. "Yeah. I'm fine. Sorry I missed rehearsals."

"You—"

Stacie shot the girl on the bed a glare, making Aubrey immediately shut up.

Beca laughed, clearly having heard the interruption but not recognizing the voice. "Nah, it was a jam session. You didn't miss anything."

"Thanks."

"So are we seeing you tonight, or are you gonna do an extra-special walk of shame?"

Stacie laughed, because she had missed Beca's attempts at downplaying her concern with seemingly-lighthearted questions. "Do we have practice tomorrow?"

"Dude, I'm trying to get the Saturdays to stop, don't remind her there could be Sundays, too."

Stacie laughed some more. "I'll take that as a no. And I'll be there Monday."

"Monday?" Beca echoed.

Stacie's gaze flicked to the bed, and smiled wickedly at the oblivious Aubrey, who was checking her own phone. "I'm gonna take someone to church."

If there was such a thing as an audible grimace, Beca did it. "Did not need to hear that."

"Make someone call out to God a couple of times."

"Don't-"

"And I'm not going to stop with missionary."

Beca abruptly hung up, making Stacie laugh, and tossed her phone back into her purse, before turning back to Aubrey, who lifted an eyebrow at her as she, too, set her own phone aside. "Yes, I forgot about rehearsals."

Aubrey raised her hands in surrender, watching expectantly as Stacie returned to the bed and crawled up its length towards her. "I wasn't going to ask."

"I know." Stacie said, hovering over Aubrey, and leaned in close for a kiss. Aubrey was about to lift her head to cover the gap when Stacie paused, and immediately sat back, regarding Aubrey thoughtfully. "You really don't."

Aubrey frowned, annoyed at having their kiss thwarted. "What?"

"You don't ask about the Bellas."

They stared at each other, the weight of that fact hanging between them.

"Why…" Stacie began to ask, reconsidered, then opened her mouth again.

Aubrey beat her to it. "Because if I start, I'll overstep."

Stacie gave her a confused look.

Aubrey sighed, and sat up against the wall, patting the space beside her for Stacie. Once Stacie joined her at the head of the bed, Aubrey started to explain. "Remember, what I said about needing to distance myself from the Bellas?"

Stacie nodded.

"I care about the Barden Bellas, even now. But just like last year's Regionals, I could have gone on berating all of you for weeks, months even, for not realizing there were nuns in the audience. But I can't have it both ways: I can't lecture you guys for the things I think you're doing wrong, and still keep distance to let myself figure out my life away from the Bellas. It's bad for me, but it's probably going to be worse for you." Aubrey shrugged. "Do I care? Of course I do. Am I curious? Yes, absolutely. But I can't get involved, for my own sanity; and to make sure I'm not tempted, I just don't ask."

"But you could have warned us back then." Stacie reminded.

Aubrey acquiesced to that point. "Not _then_. But I think I'm at a place now where I can do that and not blow a fuse."

Stacie glanced at her. "They're my friends, Aubrey."

"I know."

"I want you to care about my friends." Stacie admitted. "And I'm a Bella, and I want you to care about that, too."

Aubrey sighed, and turned to meet her gaze. "What do you want me to do?"

"Not be ambivalent?" Stacie suggested. "Like, maybe ask, even just vaguely? And I'll try to answer just as vaguely."

Aubrey paused, considering the request, before nodding. "I can do that."

Stacie smirked. "And maybe if the judging criteria calls for bad late-80s/early-90s pop songs, I can ask you for help."

"You can ask." Aubrey rolled her eyes. "And, _sorry_ if I don't know my madlib beats and R &B anthems." Her indignation was cut short, however, by Stacie sitting up and swinging a leg over her and settling on Aubrey's lap with her knees on either side of Aubrey. It took all of Aubrey's willpower to keep her gaze above Stacie's neck.

Stacie cupped Aubrey's chin and tilted it up when she noticed Aubrey's eyes concentrate a little too hard on her neck. She smiled at the blonde. "Baby, your taste in music's so straight-up white-girl radio you're almost a cliché."

"I'm a cliché?" Aubrey questioned.

Stacie paused thoughtfully, and nodded in confirmation. "But with a cross-section of musical theater, both classic and new, so that's not so bad. But the white-girl radio? _That's_ what you should be apologizing for."

Aubrey arched a brow. "Oh, should I?"

Stacie nodded. "Major apology."

Aubrey hesitated, the snappy retort on the tip of her tongue.

Stacie arched an eyebrow, because Aubrey wasn't one to hold back on their verbal exchanges. "Say it."

Aubrey looked up at her. "Or you're taking me to church?"

"If you apologize." Stacie quirked an eyebrow, teasing.

Aubrey bit her lower lip, making Stacie slightly whimper because pouting Aubrey was hot but watching Aubrey bite her lower lip made Stacie want to bite Aubrey's lower lip, and she was about to call the whole thing off and get right to the kissing when Aubrey lifted her eyes and met Stacie's challenging gaze, and whispered, " _mihi ignosce_?"

Stacie's eyes darkened with lust, taking hold of the back of Aubrey's neck and pulling her in close for a hard kiss.


	16. Chapter 16

When Stacie finally came up for air and returned to the Barden campus on Sunday night – she had tried to cajole Aubrey into letting her stay another night but Aubrey had remembered that Stacie had an early Monday morning class, _that bitch_ – she was met with the expectant look of nine girls.

Well, expectant was putting it mildly. With the exception of Beca, who just looked relieved to see her alive, in one piece, and none the worse for wear, the rest of the Barden Bellas looked ready to start a Homeland Security-level interrogation of Stacie's whereabouts the previous two days. Which Stacie knew was warranted, and that her friends were only concerned, but the truth of the matter was she wasn't ready to talk about it. The only person she trusted to understand was Aubrey, and even they had their own confusions about what was going on between them; Stacie knew that trying to explain to anyone, even her best friends, was just going to aggravate the already delicate situation.

But she'd gotten careless, too caught up in the surprise of seeing Aubrey, and she hadn't thought to set up any alibis. After all, she'd gone out with her lab partner, and they had been in a group of five people, not to mention the dozens of other groups included in the scavenger hunt, or the after-party, it shouldn't have been too hard to find someone – or several someones, options were awesome – to take a few photos with her.

She blamed Aubrey, honestly.

It didn't help that the most intense scrutiny seemed to be coming from Chloe. Which wasn't a surprise, since they slept less than five feet away from each other, and shared a bath room, and if anyone in the house were to know what was going on with Stacie…

It would be Lilly. Lilly, who was like a 00 agent, or at least a Level 9, but after Lilly was definitely Chloe.

Dilemma: play innocent, or try and use the time-tested formula of making everyone uncomfortable about her sexual escapades?

Playing innocent was a catch-22, because she could feign cluelessness on why her friends were curious and concerned, but if any one of them gave a good enough reason, she _could_ be forced to cough up details about her rare overnight stay with a hookup. And she was a little afraid of what might come out of her mouth if she had to talk about what was going on with her.

Making them uncomfortable was a risk, because both Chloe and Fat Amy weren't easily bothered by over-sharing details. And just like the faux-innocent ruse, if she made the mistake in how she told her story, any of her friends could pick up on it and examine the situation closely.

Just as Stacie was about to open her mouth to nonchalantly ask what was going on, Beca's phone rang, and the girl glanced at it, her face scrunching up in confusion. "Why is Aubrey calling me?"

 _Oh my God._ Stacie had the best girlf- phone friend-with-benefits. Clearly having correctly calculated Stacie's estimated time of arrival at Barden campus and even more correctly ascertaining the Barden Bellas' curiosity as to Stacie's whereabouts for the past two nights, Aubrey had timed her call to Beca.

Beca turned to Chloe, who looked away guiltily, and Stacie realized with a start that while she kept forgetting to inform Aubrey about Chloe's continued stay in Barden University, she hadn't stopped to consider that _Chloe_ had been neglecting to inform Aubrey about it, as well. And possibly on purpose.

The Barden Bellas all stared at the phone in Beca's hand, still ringing, and Stacie felt bad that _this_ was the amount of trepidation her friends felt at the very prospect of Aubrey calling, and they didn't even know what she was calling about. Maybe Aubrey had a point, about how the Bellas would have felt if she'd tried too hard to stay in the circle after she'd graduated.

"Are you gonna answer that?" Denise finally asked.

Denise didn't count because she was getting her degree in Social Work, it was like her _job_ to be nice, and to be concerned about everybody.

Beca picked up her phone, and hesitantly answered Aubrey's call. "Aubrey?" She sat up abruptly, and glanced around her, alarmed, as if looking to see if Aubrey was looking over her shoulder. "I don't know!" She turned to the rest of the Bellas and hissed, "Since when has there been a World Championships of A cappella?"

Was that even a real thing? Or was Aubrey making up things to bother Beca about, now?

But whatever her reasons, Aubrey had succeeded in distracting Stacie's friends from their original intent of inquiring after Stacie's nocturnal habits. They just had to be more careful next time.

Maybe _next_ next time.

It was kind of hard to be concerned about discretion when they were in a college town like Atlanta where nobody seemed to blink at the fact that she and Aubrey held hands as they walked down the street towards a restaurant that had recently opened and Aubrey wanted to try out.

"Is there even really a World Championships for A cappella?" Stacie asked, because ever since Sunday night, everyone had been frenetically looking it up where they could.

Aubrey laughed. "Surprisingly, yes, it's not just something I came up with on my own. There's a website, you know."

"Well, registration was closed, so I figured you could have had someone set up a fake website for you to teach Beca a lesson."

Aubrey's brow knit in confusion. "You know I suck at technology."

"You could have gotten help. You and IT guy on Friday night looked pretty friendly."

Aubrey shot her a look. "I mentioned Dave's gay, right?"

"You danced with him."

"Because he's a good dancer. And gay." Aubrey frowned. "And I mostly danced with _you_ , so…"

"My point."

Aubrey took in the pouting, the petulant scowl, and realized exactly what was happening at that moment. "Oh my God, are you jealous?"

"No." Came the quick response.

Aubrey's eyebrow arched. "You are!"

"I don't get jealous." Stacie insisted. "Especially over pretty-boy IT assistant managers who aren't concerned about midterms anymore."

"Very jealous!" Aubrey exclaimed. She stopped walking, and due to their handhold, forced Stacie to stop, as well. She pulled on Stacie's hand, and drew her closer. "I don't know how many times – or ways – I can tell you he's gay, but…"

"It's not about Dave." Stacie muttered, looking away from Aubrey.

"Then what is it about?"

Stacie sighed, and turned back to look at her. "Why can't we be like _this_ all the time? Why can't _you_ be like this all the time? Why are your assignments when we see each other almost always in the South?"

"Because you're in Georgia and we're limited to the middle of the South-East?" Aubrey mused. "I don't pick where the clients are, and most of them just aren't in college towns."

"Why do they keep sending you to the South?" Stacie asked, still opting to be prissy about it.

"Because not a lot of middle managers in the head office have roots from the South?" Aubrey surmised. She shrugged. "The managers I meet tend to be nicer when they're meeting someone they feel understands them."

"You don't even have an accent." Stacie pouted.

Aubrey rolled her eyes, because _damn_ what she was willing to do for this girl. "After years of training, but sure, I could totes," she slowed down her speech into a Southern drawl, "talk like _this_ if that's what you're into."

Stacie dropped her petulant stance, and stared at Aubrey. "I know it's wrong but _fuck_ that's hot."

"Language!" Aubrey reprimanded in mock offense, still with that accent. "I refuse to kiss you with that kind of mouth."

Stacie shook her head. "You're gonna have to stop, or this whole fresh-air, walking-in-public thing's going to be wasted."

Aubrey laughed, dropping the accent. "Be careful what you wish for."

"Or I just might get it?" Stacie returned.

Aubrey shrugged, and they continued on their way. After a few moments, Stacie told her, "What are you doing on Thanksgiving?"

"Work."

It was like an automatic response.

"It's… _Thanksgiving_."

"And the real bosses get to go home to their families and friends while someone has to hold down the fort because being in a multinational means not every country celebrates Thanksgiving."

Stacie frowned. "I didn't study Business Management or whatever, but I'm pretty sure that's forced labor."

"Not if it's voluntary."

Stacie made a face. "You volunteered to work on Thanksgiving?"

"To be honest, I don't really 'do' Thanksgiving."

Stacie stopped walking, forcing Aubrey to do the same. "What the hell do you mean, you don't 'do' Thanksgiving?"

"I don't really like the holiday." Aubrey replied calmly, despite Stacie's obvious aggravation.

"You don't like…" Stacie couldn't even finish the question in her frustration. "How are you American? Is it because of the South thing, or the Native American thing?"

"Neither. It's a personal preference."

"Against _Thanksgiving_?' Stacie exclaimed. "There are _parades_!"

"To mark the start of holiday shopping season; Why are you so upset about this?" Aubrey queried, concerned.

"I live for the winter holidays, and _you don't like Thanksgiving_." Stacie pointed out. "How can I _not_ be upset?"

"I like Christmas fine. And New Year's. Both of which I'm already slated to spend with you. So I don't do Thanksgiving. How is that so bad?"

Cut to the next day, and Chloe raised an eyebrow at Stacie's internet search history, reading over her shoulder. "Why are you looking up reasons why people hate Thanksgiving? Isn't the slaughter of Native Americans the only reason?"

"Animal activists protest the turkey mass murder." Stacie, seated at her desk, glanced over her shoulder at Chloe and added, "Some Southerners think it's a Northeastern invention and didn't celebrate it until recently."

Chloe snorted. "Must be one of Aubrey's ancestors."

Open invitation to pry? Maybe. And Stacie was taking it. "What, does she hate Thanksgiving, or something?"

"No, not hate." Chloe shook her head, moving across the room towards her bed. "She loves the spirit of it, but the family tradition for Thanksgiving's like, her dad takes her out to go hunting with him and his friends and their kids."

For some reason Stacie could completely believe that Aubrey _would_ go hunting with her dad. "And she's bad at it?"

Chloe laughed. "No, she's supposed to be pretty good. Excellent shot, according to her mom. But the other kids resented her, being the only girl and being the best shot, so it still sucked for her. When she decided she didn't want to do that anymore, but her dad made a fuss about it being a family tradition or whatever, so her only option was to stay in campus and not go home at all." Chloe shrugged. "I'd try and make her come with me, but most of her other friends weren't the type to go home, either."

As Chloe drifted off in thought, Stacie silently willed Chloe to make the vague suggestion of inviting Aubrey over for Thanksgiving. She was even willing to forgo going home if Chloe just _made_ that suggestion. She already knew Aubrey couldn't make the trip, but it put a lot less pressure on her from being the one to bridge the gap between the two friends, and it would be enough to make her super-thankful this year.

Chloe shook her head, coming back to the present, and turned to Stacie. "Fat Amy got a 95 on one of her test papers today, we're gonna have a party when she and Cynthia Rose get back with the alcohol."

Stacie frowned, confused. "It's barely past lunch. On Tuesday." And she was seeing Aubrey right after her afternoon class before Aubrey had to leave for the airport, so…

"So skip your afternoon class."

Stacie could already feel the whine building up in her vocal cords. "I can't."

Chloe gazed at her thoughtfully, as if trying to come up with a decision on something, and finally asked, "Are you seeing someone you shouldn't be right now?"

Stacie tried, hopefully successfully, to keep her expression impassive, but _what the aca-fuck, Chloe_. "What—why would you even… What do you mean?"

Chloe frowned at her, and moved to the edge of her bed, closer to where Stacie was still seated at her desk. "I mean, you've been on your phone, like, all the time, you're sneaking off to who knows where, you haven't been stocking up your safe sex stash, _or_ taken an STD _or_ pregnancy test since school started! You haven't gone to the clinic once! So either you're seeing someone for real, or you're not having sex _at all_ , which I'm pretty sure isn't the case because you wouldn't be racking up call time if whoever you're seeing isn't putting out."

Stacie stared at Chloe, because _clearly_ Chloe had chosen the wrong future career if she'd opted for Music Education over Forensics. Before she could say anything, however, Chloe continued.

"So if you're boning a Treblemaker who's actually considerate enough to be in charge of the condoms, it's okay." Chloe went on. "That rule's so out, and Beca obvs won't be enforcing it." She smiled at Stacie. "I just want you to know you don't have to hide any relationship you're in."

Chloe was being so nice about Stacie keeping secrets, it made her want to break down crying and confessing everything to her. And also tell her she'd rather be in a small-town rural community college than date, much less bone, a Treblemaker. (Especially since it meant Aubrey would never touch her again.)

Chloe smiled at Stacie, and turned back to her own laptop, putting on her headphones – which looked like either it was given, borrowed, or stolen from Beca, judging by its size – and starting a movie (Chloe hardly ever did homework anymore, Stacie had no idea what her curriculum each semester looked like and didn't know how she was still eligible to compete in collegiate a cappella).

In the end, Stacie ended up staying after her afternoon class to discuss a project with her classmates, and had to skip out on both Fat Amy's party and pre-flight goodbye sex with Aubrey. She cursed the part of her that was undeniably a nerd who liked to excel in school. She'd had to content herself with sending Aubrey text messages throughout her meeting, and by the time the meeting had ended, Aubrey was mid-flight.

After that, despite the both of them being in the same time zone and pretty much having memorized each other's schedules, it was a constant game of phone tag, because Aubrey was suddenly swamped with work for the start of the new fiscal year (whatever that meant) and Stacie had exams and the start of the Barden Bellas' rehearsals for their winter tour.

They finally caught up the week of Thanksgiving, on Monday evening while Chloe was out with several of the other Bellas to watch a movie, with promises to bring home food when they got back. Stacie, who had a report to finish, had stayed in, and an idle dial of her phone resulted in Aubrey answering. While apologetic for forcing the issue with Aubrey before, Stacie couldn't help but insist that she could change Aubrey's mind about the holiday.

Aubrey, who was just grateful that Stacie was dropping the matter of Thanksgiving, didn't question the reasons for her change of heart. But she had to admit, "you probably could, but it won't be this year."

Stacie pouted, cradling her phone to her ear with her shoulder, and continued to pack her bag for the coming weekend. "So you'll be stuck at work?"

"Not at the office, no. But I'll be on call, like the head office bitch that I am, pacing my apartment and hoping that nothing goes wrong for the weekend."

Stacie stopped packing. "And you can't pace in Pennsylvania?"

"We both know work's going to be the last thing on my mind if I'm with you in Pennsylvania." Aubrey reminded.

"Then who am I going to cuddle with watching every Peanuts special there is?"

"We can Skype," Aubrey offered, "but I'll constantly be glancing at the top corner of my screen watching the office activity log."

Stacie snorted with derision. "There's an activity log?"

"Every call and email logged for the Oversight group, yes."

"What?" Stacie laughed. "And that's what you'll be doing all weekend?"

"I'll be pacing." Aubrey reminded.

"Wishing and hoping?" Stacie teased. "And thinking, and praying, planning and dreaming?"

"Each night of your charms," Aubrey deadpanned. At least _someone_ had paid attention when she and Chloe had been teaching a bunch of freshmen about Burt Bacharach.

"That won't get you into my arms." Stacie returned.

Aubrey sighed. "At least Christmas is just a few weeks away."

"That's _ages_ from now!" Stacie whined playfully.

There was a pause, and then Aubrey asked tentatively, "How are preparations going for your winter tour?"

Stacie paused, startled, before a wide grin spread on her face. "They're great, actually. Do you want me to send you a list of our stops?"

"No, I'm grounded through January, anyway. Unless there's a stop in the tri-state area, I won't be able to make it."

"You're grounded?" Stacie echoed blankly.

"Everyone below AVP status are strictly confined to the office. This first quarter, and possibly the second, is going to be hell."

"Aww, sorry baby." Stacie cooed. "Want to sing it out?"

Aubrey laughed. "No, it's fine."

"Wish you could see a show, though." Stacie noted. "The costumes are _tight_."

There was a pause, and then Aubrey queried, "Like, literally, or slang term meaning awesome?"

A wicked smile pulled at Stacie's lips. "Both."

"Take pictures?"

"Phones can take video, you know."

"Video?" Aubrey echoed.

"I have to get into the costume somehow." Stacie teased. "And out of it."

There was an audible crash on Aubrey's end of the line, startling them both, before Aubrey breathlessly returned on the line. "Ow."

Stacie laughed. "Did you fall off your chair?"

"Maybe." Aubrey whimpered, but not from her crash. "You're cruel."

Stacie smirked. "I know."

Aubrey sighed. "Christmas." She declared firmly, as if willing it to come sooner.

"Want me to bring my costumes?"

"Only if you want me banned from your mother's house."

"So that's a no?"

"That's a no."

"Too bad, one of the tops lift real well and really do the girls justice. I think you would've liked it."

"Trust me, 'the girls' don't need any costumes to be justified."

"The girls appreciate your appreciation." Stacie grinned, and couldn't help but tease Aubrey. "But good to know that you _do_ like them."

"Of course I like them. You _know_ I like them." Aubrey groused. "Do I not 'like' them enough for you?"

"You could 'like' them some more."

"Somehow I'm not sure if that works out better for you, or me." Aubrey noted. "But I'll keep that in mind."

There was a loud bang from downstairs, followed by loud voices, and Stacie sighed. She would've liked to see how far she could have pushed the thread of conversation but it sounded like the rest of her friends were home. "Saved by the bell. Looks like dinner's here."

"Talk to you soon." Aubrey said agreeably. "'Bye."

"Good night." Stacie smiled. "Love you."

She ended the call, and dropped her phone on the bed, surveying the mess of clothes on her bed.

The phone buzzed, and Stacie frowned when she saw Aubrey's name.

They literally just hung up, they even said goodbye. But Aubrey was the type to call just to remind Stacie about something, and Stacie smiled with fond exasperation, reaching to pick it up.

And froze.

 _Oh shit._


	17. Chapter 17

Unbelievable. Un-fucking-believable. Like it wasn't bad enough she was the one who initiated their first phone call after Philadelphia, or the one to propose meeting up if and when Aubrey was in the area, or suggested hooking up the following summer because they both balked at the prospect of a long-term relationship.

She was smart, damn it. She had been accepted in some very good schools, and Barden University even offered her a full scholarship… which she was maintaining, no less. She was _smart_ , both academically and practically, she didn't make stupid mistakes or just blurt out stupid things unless she _chose_ to.

And she had spent an entire lifetime up to this point making sure she didn't fall for the frivolity of teenage relationships, the frailty of long-distance, the catch-all of monogamy. She had watched her parents' marriage fall apart, had seen her friends' parents' all struggle to keep their marriages together, and had seen in the few examples of happy marriages that it was a struggle, a day-in and day-out challenge, to stay together.

So she had known from the start why long-distance relationships didn't work, and she would be _damned_ if she went against everything she knew by being with someone who was never around.

Unbelievable.

And Aubrey – Aubrey _fucking_ Posen – was doing exactly what Stacie wanted her to do at that moment, and was keeping her distance, giving her time and space, even if it was the last thing Stacie needed.

Because Stacie needed some kind of validation to what she'd accidentally said, and Aubrey wasn't giving it.

Actually, no, that wasn't fair, because for all Stacie knew Aubrey had intended to, somewhere in those first five - or _fifty_ \- unanswered calls, but then the frantic calls ended at the start of Thanksgiving weekend, after which Aubrey stuck to their regularly-scheduled call times, even when Stacie kept not answering them.

Which, fine, she was probably _slightly_ at fault, for not answering Aubrey's calls. But she knew that the moment she took Aubrey's call, they would need to talk about what Stacie had said, and that would be making it _real_ , and they'll dissect it and analyze it and try to figure out _what it meant_ , and the truth of the matter was, Stacie didn't _know_ what it meant. But just because she didn't want to discuss the matter in detail didn't mean she didn't want Aubrey to at least _acknowledge_ it.

Okay, she was _miffed_. She can honestly admit that she had expected Aubrey to at least show up at her home in Pennsylvania, when Stacie continued to refuse to answer her calls, and had been disappointed when the entire Thanksgiving weekend came and went without a single visit, just tons of missed calls by phone and on Skype. At one point, she knew her mom had gotten concerned when she'd jumped every time her phone rang and perked up each time a car seemed to slow down outside, and… The disappointment was overwhelming.

She had to say _this_ , about Aubrey, however: the girl was as stubborn as ever, and despite her calls not being answered, sometimes straight-out rejected as well as having her text messages ignored, and Stacie pretty much making sure all her days and nights were occupied elsewhere, she never faltered. As if daring Stacie to be the first one to blink, she still called, and texted, and attempted to Skype. If their relationship had been on any other form of communication – Facebook, messenger, smoke signals – she had no doubt Aubrey would be on those, too.

And then one day, right at the start of Christmas break and the Barden Bellas' first tour stop for the winter, everything stopped.

Stacie wasn't sure what had prompted the brick wall of communication, and wasn't sure if she had any right to try and breach it, but there was just _nothing_.

"That phone isn't going to dial itself, you know." Cynthia Rose noted from across Stacie, the two of them seated in the coaster van that was the Bellas' new mode of transportation. Being national champions went a long way in fundraising, and funds sure helped in paying for things like van rentals and purchasing costume materials.

They were on their last stop of the winter tour, and Stacie wasn't going to lie: she was kind of freaking out about the fact that she was going on almost a full week of nothing from Aubrey, and Christmas was just a few days away, and she had no idea what she was going to tell her mom if Aubrey didn't show up.

Stacie glanced at her phone and sighed. "I fucked up."

"We all do." Cynthia Rose shrugged. "How bad?"

"I don't know." Stacie admitted. She looked up at the other girl. "How do you get to a point where you compromise yourself so much just to be in a relationship?"

Cynthia Rose's eyes widened, but she tried not to let her shock show too much. "You're in a relationship?"

Stacie threw her hands up in frustration. "I don't even know!" She groaned in annoyance. "But I'm doing all these things I swore I'd never do, like sneaking around, and lying to my friends, and saying things I shouldn't, and it doesn't feel like too much in the moment, but when I stop and think about it, I wonder when the hell did I become this person, and why is it OK?"

"Because you're in a relationship." Denise said, from her place in the driver's seat, making both Stacie and Cynthia Rose shriek in surprise. She gave them both a weary look, before turning to Stacie. "This may come as a surprise to you, but everything you just said? Comes from being involved with someone else; whether or not you believe it."

"But..." Stacie glanced at Cynthia Rose, frustrated, before turning back to Denise. "Shouldn't I _know_?"

Denise shrugged. "Not everybody sits down and decides to be in a relationship, Stacie. Not everyone gets that big moment that starts everything. Sometimes it just happens."

"Is that why you've had your phone permanently glued to your hand since you got back from—" Cynthia Rose's jaw dropped. "You've been seeing this guy since summer?"

"CR." Denise said curtly, drawing the other girl's attention, and it spoke of their past relationship that all it took was one poignant look from Denise and Cynthia Rose eased off on her incredulity.

Stacie sighed. "Okay, say you're right, and I'm in a relationship. How did everything I just said happen?"

"You make adjustments, changes when there are other people involved." Denise shrugged. "That's how relationships _work_. When one or both of you aren't willing to make those changes, and don't try to make it work, that's it, that's how it ends."

"Or graduation." Cynthia Rose said pointedly.

Denise rolled her eyes. "It's not my fault you were too busy gambling to realize you were declared truant and had to repeat twelfth grade."

"I was too busy _winning_ at gambling." Cynthia Rose corrected.

Denise turned back to Stacie, and gestured to herself and Cynthia Rose. " _This_ is how relationships don't work."

Stacie glanced at them, and winced when she realized she'd rather have their snide back and forth than never having Aubrey talk to her again, so she picked up her phone. And then paused, realizing the two other girls were watching with rapt attention. "Do you mind?"

"Hey, we're invested, now." Cynthia Rose protested, motioning to her and Denise.

Stacie turned to Denise, who shook her head. "This is better than the Beca-Chloe drama, because at least yours looks like it's going somewhere."

Cynthia Rose turned to Denise. "You know, you're right about those two. I thought they'd be together by now; how do you fail the same subject every year and not have your girl realize what's happening?"

"And he forces her to watch movies! And she still hates them! Why are they even still together?" Denise exclaimed in agreement.

Stacie rolled her eyes, and dialed Aubrey's number, which rang twice before the call was rejected.

 _Aca-scuse me?_

Cynthia Rose and Denise had watched the whole thing, and were curious as to how to read and interpret Stacie's dark expression.

Stacie dialed again, and again the call was rejected.

"You do not get to do this to me." Stacie seethed, starting to call again but was interrupted by an incoming message. She opened it, and the message's attachment, and there was a moment of confusion before she realized what she was looking at.

And there was no shortage of relief in the world for how she felt when it made sense.

Cynthia Rose frowned, and tried to see Stacie's phone screen, but failed. "What's happening?"

"Well?" Denise asked.

"It's cool. We're cool." Stacie laughed, releasing the nervous tension she'd been feeling since Aubrey's calls ended, and after making sure her screen only showed the picture and not the sender's name, showed it to the two other girls.

Denise frowned. "What is that?"

"It's a restaurant receipt." Stacie answered, almost near tears, because _goddamnit, Aubrey_. The receipt also stated that it was from England, which probably answered the question of why racking up charges for international personal calls was not high on Aubrey's list of things to do.

It didn't answer Stacie's question of where she and Aubrey were on the state of their relationship, but at least she knew they were still on speaking terms.

So to speak.

But there was a time difference, and Stacie was with the rest of the Barden Bellas, so even later that night in the hotel room she shared with Chloe, she could only trade emails and web messages with Aubrey, neither of them addressing the reason why they haven't spoken to each other in nearly a month.

She couldn't wait until she was alone at home and not worry about nine girls eavesdropping on her phone conversation.

Because she realized belatedly, now that she was talking to Aubrey again, just how much she had missed the older girl during the weeks they hadn't spoken. She missed complaining about her classes, and listening to Aubrey talk about projections for the quarter and, damn it, Aubrey's performance review had been the week after Thanksgiving, so Stacie had missed whatever feedback Aubrey's boss must have had.

(And wondered if she really _did_ laugh at Aubrey during the review.)

But Aubrey was stuck in England, for still undisclosed reasons, and admitted that she wasn't sure if she'd be able to get a flight back home, much less to Philadelphia, so close to Christmas Day, but promised to try and make it as soon as she could. Stacie figured that was already more than she could hope for, considering she had blanked the other girl out for weeks.

And then one day Stacie understood all those movies and commercials about Christmas Eve, all those poor souls trying to get home on the day, because she had absolutely no words for how she felt when she opened the door the morning of Christmas Eve and Aubrey stood at her front step.

They had no words, really, just feelings of relief and joy to lay eyes on each other again, and Stacie mutely stepped aside to let Aubrey inside the house.

Once the door closed behind them, Aubrey smiled faintly. "You're done freaking out?"

Stacie nodded.

"Good." And then there really were no words, having no need for it as they surged towards each other, covering the distance both literally and figuratively, grasping each other blindly while their mouths got reacquainted with each other. Aubrey held Stacie firmly by the waist, keeping her steady, careful not to escalate things too far before they cleared the air between them.

Stacie, however, had other plans, wrapping her arms around Aubrey and pulling her in close, wanting to touch her everywhere, to feel her everywhere, wanting everything and the kiss was barely covering everything she wanted to do with Aubrey.

Stacie pushed Aubrey up against the door, making her gasp, which only fueled Stacie's desire. But Aubrey had other plans.

"No, Stace, wait." Aubrey said, breathless, cupping the side of Stacie's jaw, and forcing her head up from where she'd begun sucking against Aubrey's pulse point. When she'd lost her scarf, Aubrey had no idea, but points for Stacie's ability to pull it off without her knowing.

Stacie let out a soft whine of protest, but pressed her forehead to Aubrey's, closing her eyes in an attempt to calm down. "God, I've missed you."

Aubrey bit back the snappy rejoinder of whose fault that was, and instead pressed her lips to Stacie's in a quick kiss. "I've missed you, too."

Stacie took a deep, shaky, breath. "England?"

"Later."

Which meant England was something to talk about.

"Stacie?"

"Hmm?" Stacie hummed, quite content like this, her eyes closed but feeling Aubrey's hands on her face, keeping her close, each breath shared with Aubrey, her arms around Aubrey.

"Baby, open your eyes."

With a sigh, Stacie reluctantly did as she was told and met Aubrey's blue eyes, the green in them darker than she had ever seen them.

Aubrey held Stacie's gaze, trying to convey something beyond words, and finally – _finally_ – the words came. "You don't get to do that to me ever again."

Stacie grew confused. _What_?

"If we're fighting? You take my calls. You yell at me. You tell me what I did wrong. You don't leave me hanging wondering if you're OK or whether or not you regret saying what you did. If you want space, you tell me, I will give it to you. But you don't ignore me the way you did for weeks. Do you understand?"

Stacie looked down. "I'm-"

"Do you understand?" Aubrey repeated, cutting her off.

Stacie looked back up at her, and nodded.

Aubrey sighed in relief. "Good, because next time you tell me you love me? I'd like to be able to say it back."

Stacie didn't think she could want Aubrey more, but she was surprised to find out she might not have an upper limit on that. "We need a bed."

"We really do."

Stacie paused, and lifted an eyebrow at Aubrey. "What, no talk of getting banned from the house?"

"Why are we still standing in the living room?"

Stacie grabbed her hand, and pulled her away from the door. When they got to the stairs, she motioned Aubrey upward. "Go."

"But—"

"Eight-hour surgery, lots of anesthesia - my mom's not leaving that OR soon. And we're gonna need to stay hydrated."

Aubrey laughed. "I should get my bags."

Stacie waved her off. "You won't need clothes for the next few hours."

Aubrey laughed harder. "Your gift's in my bag, but—"

Stacie faltered in her urgency, because… well, _presents_. She pouted, and Aubrey smiled fondly, leaning close to kiss her pout. "Let me get my bags."

"Two minutes."

"Five."

Stacie sighed, because she knew of only one way Aubrey would be done sooner. "I'll help."

It was at the closing moments of hour seven of the surgery Stacie's mom was taking part in when Aubrey, freshly showered and feeling deep in her bones the exhaustion of traveling across the Atlantic and hours of marathon make up sex, fell onto Stacie's bed and its newly-changed sheets. "I can sleep for days."

Stacie watched her, half-amused. "That'll take away the whole point of making you stay with me."

"We can still have sex while I'm half-asleep."

"Pretty sure that counts as dubious consent." Stacie mused, lying down beside Aubrey and pressing close from behind her.

"I'm consenting now." Aubrey assured her, taking hold of Stacie's hand, tangling their fingers together, and moving their entwined hands across her waist. "Just make sure I'm at least half-awake? I'd like to be at least partly aware of what's going on."

Stacie chuckled, and pressed a kiss to Aubrey's shoulder. "I missed you."

Aubrey smiled into Stacie's pillow. "Missed you too."

"Aubrey?"

"Hmm?"

"Will you be my girlfriend?"

Aubrey chuckled softly, and lifted their entwined hands to her lips, turning her head slightly to kiss the inside of Stacie's wrist. "Are you asking me to go steady?"

"Letterman jacket, and all."

"And the pressure, commitment, monogamy, routine sex?" Aubrey questioned.

Stacie shrugged, even if Aubrey couldn't see her. "I could get used to those things."

"Thanks a lot." Aubrey said dryly.

Stacie moved back and pushed on Aubrey's shoulder so she could turn and they could face each other. "I'm not going to lie to you, I still don't know if I'm ready for those things. But I want to be. And I want to be with you. Because if there's anyone I can trust to hold my hand through it, and reassure me it's okay to be messing up all the time, that's going to be you."

Aubrey frowned. "What makes you think you're going to mess up?"

"Aubrey, we're kind of expecting the Hunter to go on the down-low," Stacie reminded. "That's got to make you worry a little."

"So the past few weeks have been-?" Aubrey questioned.

"That's different."

"How?"

"It just is." Stacie pouted. "This is an entirely new territory for me, Aubrey."

"And you think I'm any better at it?" Aubrey asked. "Have you forgotten my list of bad relationships, because I can name at least five guaranteed to send you running."

"You'd be wrong."

"And besides," Aubrey added, "so far you've been handling this - well, I guess we're calling it a relationship now - better than I have. You've pushed, when you knew you needed to; and pulled when I needed you to. You knew what you needed from this relationship and expected me to meet you halfway."

"But I kept complaining, and whining, about being forced into a relationship, and…" Stacie exhaled. "And I've been trying so hard to prove that I wasn't."

"Because _we both_ don't really know how to be in one." Aubrey pointed out gently. "Stacie, we're making this up as we go along. That's… that's the commitment. _That's_ a relationship. I mean, I've been in relationships before and I didn't realize exactly how I felt about you until I heard you say it."

Stacie rolled her eyes. "God. That was such a slip of the tongue. And not the good kind."

Aubrey smiled. "But I think we both knew we were reaching the point of no return regardless."

Stacie looked at her. "And you're okay with this? I know you have expectations of how relationships are, and I don't know what the rules are, or how relationships even _work_ …"

"I think we can both safely say that expectations and rules don't exactly apply to us." Aubrey noted.

Stacie paused, and frowned at her. "Whoa, who are you and what have you done to Aubrey?"

Aubrey rolled her eyes. "Funny."

"No, seriously: what have you done to Aubrey? No rules or expectations? I mean, you're awesome in bed, too, but I kind of liked her high-strung, rule-adhering, attention-to-detail personality."

"So funny." Aubrey said dryly. "Can I sleep now?"

"Sure, Aubrey-looking thing."

Aubrey rolled her eyes, before she leaned closer and grazed her lips on Stacie's. "I love you. And I would love to be your girlfriend."

Stacie grinned, pressing a series of kisses on Aubrey's lips. "I love you too, Aubrey-looking thing. But just so we're clear?"

"Hmm?" Aubrey hummed around their kisses, pulling Stacie closer to press their bodies together.

"We're gonna have to keep our love a secret when the real Aubrey comes back."

Aubrey paused, and pulled back slightly to frown at the mischievously-grinning Stacie. "You're gonna keep dating both of us if I turned out to be an impostor?"

Stacie shrugged helplessly. "It's like twins…"

Aubrey rolled her eyes, even as she acquiesced to the kisses Stacie kept pressing on her lips. "You're so lucky I love you."

"I love you too." Stacie grinned, biting slightly on her lower lip. "Say it again?"

God, she was already so whipped. Aubrey smiled into their kiss, and obediently repeated, "I love you."

"Baby?"

"Yeah?"

"It's kind of a turn-on."

It had none of the frantic urgency of their earlier coupling, but there was a level of intimacy that hadn't been there before.

Stacie just can't believe her high-level intellect hadn't figured all of this out before that moment.


	18. Chapter 18

"You know, you don't have to do the dishes, my mom said it can wait until the morning," Stacie reminded, hopping up to sit on the kitchen counter near the sink, where Aubrey stood washing their dishes from dinner.

Aubrey glanced at her. "I'm crashing your Christmas, eating her food, and having sex with her daughter. Doing the dishes is the least I can do."

"And there's a dishwasher."

"There aren't that many dishes."

"You're sucking up."

"I'm sure that's obvious."

Stacie crossed her legs, accentuating the shortness of her shorts and the amount of skin on display – her body temperature even in the middle of winter was admirable, Aubrey had to admit, taking a moment to appreciate the view – and she crossed her arms as she looked at Aubrey. "She already likes you, you don't need to suck up."

"See above: having sex with her daughter." Aubrey reminded. "Your mom scares me."

"So do the dishes later. Let's go look at the lights."

Aubrey gave her a questioning look.

"Around the neighborhood." Stacie explained. "That's what makes the suburbs great, you know: the inexplicable need to outdo each other with holiday displays."

"After dishes."

"But—"

"Stace, I can do this now, or I can do this later, and if we're going to go out for a walk, I don't think either of us would like to detour the rest of our night with dishes." Aubrey pointed out.

Stacie lifted an eyebrow. "Oh, so this is a preemptive strike so we can get right to the sex after going out?"

Aubrey hung her head at the futility of curbing Stacie's dismissal of her brain-to-mouth filter. "Your mother could walk into the kitchen any time, you know."

"She knows we have sex, Aubrey. Why do you think did she roll her eyes when we said you were staying in the guest room?"

"She doesn't need to know _when_ we're going to have sex."

"You know she thinks I'm a horny teenager who'll have it all day if I could, right?" Stacie asked.

She totally meant to let that dish slip, really. Aubrey frowned at Stacie. "Keep your voice down!"

Stacie ignored her. "Well, not here, obviously, the neighbors can hear and my mom has to sleep sometime, but—"

"Oh my God."

"You know, I'm glad eighty percent of our relationship's based in a hotel, because those Do Not Disturb signs are gifts that keep on giving." Stacie continued.

Aubrey gave her a sidelong glance. "And room service."

"Yes!" Stacie pointed at her. "Room service. Do not disturb signs and room service. No annoying – or overly curious - roommates, no group dinners, no eavesdropping neighbors who live vicariously through our sex noise."

"Our sex noise?" Aubrey echoed.

Stacie arched an eyebrow, as if challenging Aubrey to dare her to mimic said noise.

"Okay." Aubrey turned back to the dishes, relieved to see that there were only a few items left, and focused on the task at hand. "We'll revisit this topic when we're not under the same roof as your mom. How were exams?"

Stacie waved her hand. "Tough. I think I did OK, though."

Aubrey rolled her eyes at the understatement, knowing full well that Stacie probably aced said exams. "I bet."

"Well, I was missing my then-kind-of-girlfriend, sue me."

"And whose fault was that?"

"I maintain, you could have shown up at any time and made me feel better." Stacie argued.

"You remember that I'm grounded until January."

"So make it a personal trip."

"You weren't even taking my calls, how was I supposed to know you wouldn't just ignore me if I showed up in person?"

Stacie scoffed. "As if you'd even step foot anywhere near Barden."

"I would for you."

Stacie stopped short, staring at the blond girl at the sink, caught off-guard by the admission. Aubrey hadn't made it a secret how much she worried how the rest of the current group of Barden Bellas would react to having her around, and had even avoided all matters Bella-related until Stacie called her out on it, and now she was saying, what? That she would brave all of that just so she could see Stacie?

"Stop staring." Aubrey told her, finishing the last of the dishes and rinsing, then drying, her hands.

"I think I love you."

"I believe we've established that." Aubrey turned to her, and Stacie uncrossed her legs to allow Aubrey to stand between them. They shared a few quick kisses, and while Stacie would have liked to test Aubrey's willpower, she didn't think her mom would appreciate that. "You said something about looking at the lights?"

"Yes!" Stacie nodded. "The Mercers are usually the house to beat, but mom says this yuppie couple moved in a few months ago, so they might be up for the challenge."

"…Right." Aubrey didn't know the dynamics of suburban life, and where she'd grown up, decorative lights were a formality, not a show. City Hall and the community center usually got to have bragging rights over holiday decorations and extravagant displays.

Fifteen minutes later, bundled up and walking along the tree-lined streets, Stacie glanced at Aubrey as they went on their way. "What were you doing in England? Was it London?"

"Just for a day." Aubrey sighed. "We were a little further up north, I don't remember the exact town. Our head count's going up over there, and they want to turn it into a major operating branch."

"What does that mean?"

"It means they might need someone from Oversight working there, day to day."

Stacie stopped cold, and grabbed Aubrey's arm to make her stop, too. "And they're looking at you?"

"Yes. No." Aubrey sighed. "Maybe? I don't know. They flew in six of us, but I'm not high up enough in the food chain to be given that kind of responsibility, so I don't know." She sighed again. "And they're not telling me anything, but we did the tour, and we did the meetings, but I don't know where I fit in all of it."

"You can't move to England." Stacie objected.

"You're not kidding." Aubrey let her exhaustion on the topic seep into her voice. "It's one thing if what you said had been a slip and you didn't really mean it, but you did, and I love you too, and it's bad enough I'm not around most of the time, but an ocean apart? I can't do that. And I can't let you go through that, either."

Stacie slid her hand down Aubrey's arm, and linked their gloved hands together. "When will you know?"

"I don't know." Aubrey shrugged. She looked at Stacie. "But when I know, you'll be the first to know, alright? I promise."

Stacie supposed that was the least she could ask for.

They continued walking, the time of night and December temperature pretty much guaranteeing that everyone in the neighborhood were inside their warm homes, which allowed the newly-established couple to walk hand-in-hand unobtrusively. Every now and then, Stacie would point out a house and tell Aubrey a story about its occupants, or to a landmark and how it relates to her.

"Did you ever have any pets growing up?" Stacie asked, after an anecdote of the resident cat lady's favorite cat who liked to terrorize the neighbors.

Aubrey shook her head, and then paused, and shrugged. "Birds? Fish. I used to have an aquarium, like," she used her hands to motion the approximate size of said aquarium, "but nothing bigger than that."

"What happened?"

"The fish turned to cannibalism, I don't know." Aubrey admitted. "There were just fewer and fewer of them, I decided it wasn't worth it. I have a dog with my grandparents, but I don't think that counts."

"Why do you…"

"My dad wouldn't let me have a dog. My grandparents didn't like my dad, so: dog. And when I visit them it's like he knows he's mine, so that's nice."

Stacie eyed her curiously. "One day you're going to have to tell me all about your convoluted childhood."

"Maybe." Aubrey replied simply. "What about you? Pets?"

"I used to have a snake."

"Gross."

"Shut up, they're awesome. But turns out it wasn't a dwarf, and keeping it in its aquarium was keeping him from growing, so I had to donate him to the zoo. Oh!" Stacie turned to Aubrey with bright, eager eyes, "we should go see him."

Aubrey looked at her with just a tinge of trepidation. "To where the snakes live?"

"They're not that bad."

"Of all the pets you could have gotten…"

"Why a snake?" Stacie finished for her. She opened her mouth, paused, and then looked at Aubrey seriously. "You can't laugh."

"Oh, no."

"Aubrey!"

"Now you've left me no choice."

Stacie pouted. "Maybe I won't tell you anymore."

"How bad could it be?" Aubrey cajoled. "It's not like you wanted a snake so you could practice Parseltongue, or…"

Stacie bit her lip.

"Or…" A wide grin spread on Aubrey's face. "Oh my God."

"Shut up."

Aubrey laughed, coming to a stop so she could pull Stacie close to her and give her a kiss. "You're adorable."

Stacie smiled into the kiss, willingly forgiving Aubrey for being kind of a jerk, before she broke the kiss to sigh against Aubrey's lips. "I have to tell you something."

Aubrey frowned, displeased at having their kisses interrupted by whatever Stacie had to say, but considering it was _Stacie_ , it probably meant whatever she was about to share was important enough to pause kissing for. She took a step back. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Nothing's 'wrong', exactly." Stacie allowed, although she really wasn't sure if that was true. She looked down at her hands, which were held firmly in Aubrey's, and smiled faintly at the sight, especially when she felt Aubrey squeeze her hands in reassurance. "But there's something I keep forgetting to tell you, and now it'll seem like I've been keeping this from you on purpose – which I haven't – but…" She looked up, and smiled weakly. "Chloe's still in Barden."

Aubrey blinked at her. Once. Twice.

"Aubrey?"

"What do you mean?" Aubrey asked, but clearly she'd understood correctly, because she pulled her hands back and tucked them into her coat pockets as she took a step back.

"Chloe didn't graduate last year."

Aubrey frowned. "Sure she did."

"She didn't." Stacie shook her head. "She was supposed to attend summer class, but she didn't, and they had no choice but to fail her."

"And you've kept this from me?" Aubrey asked, betrayal coloring her tone. "You've known, this whole time, and you didn't tell me?"

"I didn't mean to!" Stacie exclaimed. She insisted, "I keep thinking that I should, but it's never come up, and when I see you, or talk to you, I'm too swept up in _you_ , and _us_ , and how much I miss you; that I keep forgetting to tell you."

"You see her every day!"

Stacie winced.

Aubrey noticed. "Oh God. What?"

"She's my roommate?" Stacie offered weakly.

Aubrey stared at her incredulously. "And this keeps slipping your mind?" She asked in disbelief. She threw her hands up. "God! I knew she was keeping secrets from me, I never could have figured…" She shook her head, and turned away from Stacie. "I can't believe this."

"Bree."

"Don't 'Bree' me." Aubrey retorted. "Was getting off that much more important that you couldn't have deigned to remember this earlier?"

"That's not fair."

"Is it?" Aubrey asked, her voice reaching levels of shrill Stacie hadn't heard since Aubrey had been Barden Bellas captain. "My best friend and my girlfriend have both been lying to me, for _months_ , and, what? Am I expected to just be OK with this?"

"No, but—"

"No!" Aubrey repeated, and shook her head. "God, I don't…" She shook her head again, and turned to leave.

"Aubrey."

Aubrey stopped, and turned to face Stacie. "You know what it means to me, the fact that Chloe didn't graduate in the first place. You were _there_. And you kept this from me?"

"I didn't mean to!"

"It doesn't matter, whether or not you meant to." Aubrey pointed out. "You should have told me." Aubrey opened her mouth, as if to add something else, but then thought the better of it and snapped her mouth shut before she turned to leave.

"Aubrey!" Stacie's longer stride had her apace with Aubrey within seconds. "Don't walk away from me."

"Stacie—"

"You said, that if we're fighting, that we have to yell at each other. To say the stuff we need to. That goes both ways." Stacie argued.

"Stacie." Aubrey's earlier indignation and agitation was quickly fading, replaced by a quiet resignation. "I know, and I hear you. But I'm kind of storming away, and you walking with me, or following me, kind of defeats the purpose."

"I know." Stacie said quietly. "But you don't know the place and probably don't know how to get back."

Aubrey paused, and glanced around her, as if trying to decide on whether or not she could counter Stacie's assertion, but quickly realized the younger woman was right. Aubrey sighed in defeat. "Fine."

They walked together, but unlike earlier, there was a certain distance between them, and they both had their hands tucked into their coat pockets, as if in a deliberate move to prevent themselves from searching for each other's hand.

"She's my friend, too." Stacie said quietly, about a block later, effectively breaking the silence.

Aubrey's reply was succinct. "I know."

"You can't ask me to choose between you and her, Aubrey."

"I know."

"And I wasn't sure if it was my place to tell."

Aubrey sighed. "Maybe not." She glanced briefly at Stacie, and sighed. "Maybe it isn't. But there are just some things you _have_ to tell me anyway."

"Okay."

Another long silence, and this time, it was Aubrey who broke it.

"I'm sorry." She waited until Stacie threw her a glance, before she continued, "I didn't mean to yell. Or say what I did. It was a cheap shot, I'm sorry."

"It was a _very_ cheap shot."

"I know."

"You can't keep throwing stuff like that in my face, Aubrey."

Aubrey sighed, and stopped walking so she could face Stacie. "I lash out, when I'm hurt. I go for the cheap shot, because that's easier than to admit just how much you hurt me." She quickly continued, when she saw Stacie open her mouth to interrupt, "I'm not saying it isn't reprehensible, or that it's OK. It isn't, and I know it isn't. But my instinct is always going to be to either hurt back, or bite it back and letting it fester."

"And there's no middle ground?"

"I'm working on that." Aubrey admitted. She took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. "I know we're still figuring this out, and I know we have a long road ahead of us, but I've been here before, and I'm almost guaranteed to screw up a couple more times before this works out, so I'm going to need you to be patient. Extremely patient."

Stacie sighed. "You know that goes for the both of us."

"Yeah." Aubrey quietly conceded, before smiling weakly at her. "But you have to promise me you won't make yourself a martyr."

Stacie frowned, puzzled.

"You can't forgive me by rote, or give me a free pass just because I'm sorry and you want to forgive me. There's two of us in this, and you have to feel free to call me out on something if you have to."

"You're talking like you're not the one who's had to listen to me talk about the people I've been making out with since the school year started while you've been working on yourself." Stacie admonished softly.

"Yeah, but that's different."

"How?"

Aubrey shrugged. "You were just the girl I liked. I told you to figure out what you wanted, and to see what's out there, when you got back to Barden. I wasn't part of the equation then."

"And you are now?"

Aubrey smiled weakly. "I really am."

Stacie sighed, and nodded. "You owe me for that cheap shot."

"I know."

They started walking again, Stacie easily taking Aubrey's hand as they walked back towards Stacie's home.

"Do you think this relationship stuff gets easier over time?" Stacie wondered out loud, after a few minutes.

"Hell if I know." Aubrey admitted. "People have broken up suddenly after decades of being together."

"I once hooked up with a girl who only did it so her boyfriend would break up with her."

"How'd that work out?"

"He thought it was hot."

"I bet."

"She was so out of his league, no wonder he wouldn't break up with her."

"Why didn't she just break up with him?"

"You know, I didn't think to ask."

"You've never thought about it?"

Stacie shook her head.

"Want me to tell you?"

"Did you know her?"

"No. But I can take a guess."

"Tell me."

"She didn't want the responsibility of breaking his heart."

Stacie glanced at Aubrey questioningly.

"She'd rather be the villain – cheating on him with another girl, whatever – than deal with sitting down, looking him in the eye, and telling him it's over. One scenario has her being callous with his feelings, the other means she'll have to deal with the look on his face for however long. It's a universal sentiment."

Stacie stopped walking, and forced Aubrey to stop, too. "So you're saying relationships are doomed, in general?"

"I haven't said anything even remotely like that." Aubrey remarked. "I'm just saying, nobody wants to be responsible for breaking someone else's heart, unless they're a sociopath. Why do you think so many of my relationships have suffered under my neglect?"

Stacie pursed her lips. "You know we just decided to officially become a couple a few hours ago, right?"

"I'm just saying—"

"Yeah, and you really should stop talking." Stacie declared, stepping closer to Aubrey, and slipping her hand out from Aubrey's hold to encircle her arms around Aubrey. "I know what you're trying to do."

Aubrey tried to hold Stacie's gaze, but her eyes kept flickering down to her lips. "What am I trying to do?"

"You're trying to scare me off by sounding like the worst girlfriend ever." Stacie answered. "And you're too late."

"What if this is too complicated?"

"Bree." Stacie chuckled, brushing their lips together softly, "We make it, or we screw up. But I'm in this. I _want_ this, I want _you_ , and I know you want us together, too. So shut up, because it's too late to be reading me the warning label."

Aubrey's shoulders sagged, and she reached up to cup the side of Stacie's face to draw her closer, parting her lips and meeting Stacie's in a kiss.

There was, Stacie thought, a certain kind of romanticism, to stand in the middle of a street where she'd grown up and be able to kiss the girl she liked, under old street lamps and surrounded by the lights of her neighbors' Christmas decorations. With snow.

Stacie looked up to make sure, before looking back at Aubrey. She pointed upwards. "Snow."

"I know what snow looks like, Stacie." Aubrey reminded. "I live in New York."

"Why do you keep talking?" Stacie whined, only partly joking.

Aubrey smiled, and gazed in wonder at the taller girl, lit slightly by the street lamp from above, with white flakes of snow drifting above and sometimes landing in her hair. And even though they had just been fighting about things they've said, not said, and things they _shouldn't_ say, Aubrey thought about how, sometimes, it was nice to just say the things running through her head. "You're really beautiful."

Stacie, who had momentarily directed her gaze back up to watch the snowflakes fall, turned back to face her, and grinned.

"We should make out in the snow."

Aubrey was not going to argue with such flawless logic.


	19. Chapter 19

Stacie's mother and - reluctant as she was to admit it - even Aubrey, both wanted to believe that there was a reason why Aubrey was staying in the guest room, and that at the very least, Stacie would help them keep up the pretense that she and Aubrey weren't at the stage of their relationship which had them sharing a bed.

They really should have known better.

In Aubrey's defense, she had been coming from a cross-Atlantic flight and marathon make up sex, so she was just glad to have a bed without worrying about a coworker calling her for a midnight brainstorming or an early morning meeting, which had been what had occurred in England, which had made her wonder if it was an elaborate hazing ritual or just a very unusual approach to leadership by the Assistant Vice President traveling with them.

And so Aubrey jerked awake when she realized she wasn't alone in bed. "Stacie!"

Stacie, who was wide awake and had apparently crawled into bed with Aubrey sometime during the night, rolled her eyes at her girlfriend. "Finally. I was wondering if I was going to have to wake you up by force."

"What are you doing here?" Aubrey hissed.

Stacie frowned at her. "I live here?"

"The guest room!"

"Oh." Stacie shrugged. "I decided that I didn't like sleeping with a whole floor between us. If I'm sleeping on top of you, I want it to be more directly."

Aubrey fell onto her back, pressing the heels of her hands against her eyes. "Your mom is going to kill me."

"Not on Christmas." Stacie took Aubrey's new position as an invitation to make do on her intention of being more directly on top of Aubrey, and lay on top of the blonde, Aubrey automatically accommodating the other girl and wrapping one arm around her waist. She brushed a quick kiss on Aubrey's lips. "Merry Christmas, girlfriend."

"What time is it?" Aubrey asked, the drawn curtains preventing her from taking a guess at the hour.

"Four-thirty."

Aubrey groaned. "You weren't kidding about how much you like the winter holidays, were you?"

Stacie grinned, instead of answering.

"Has Santa arrived and dropped off presents?"

"Now you're mocking me."

"I would never." Aubrey said flatly, adjusting her position slightly so that she wasn't bearing the full weight of Stacie's body, and their new position allowed her to lean against Stacie's shoulder, curling into the taller girl's body. She closed her eyes, and hummed contentedly. "How are you so warm?"

"I thought that was obvious." Stacie joked, drifting a hand up the curve of Aubrey's spine and tangling her fingers in Aubrey's hair. She pecked the small confused pout that curled Aubrey's lips. "I'm really hot."

Aubrey smiled into their kiss. "Your mom's still going to kill me."

"Oh, but what a sweet death it would be." Stacie cooed. When Aubrey didn't answer, she poked Aubrey's shoulder. "Did you just fall asleep on me?"

"It's four-thirty." Aubrey whined. "Why are you even awake at this hour?"

"I've been thinking."

Aubrey's brow furrowed.

"That was our first fight."

Aubrey opened her eyes, and met Stacie's own green ones, and saw the weight the younger girl's gaze bore. She acquiesced to Stacie's point. "It was."

"I don't like us fighting."

"It's kind of part of relationships in general, Stacie." Aubrey reminded. "It's _how_ we handle fights that count, more than the fight itself."

"So there'll be more fights in our future?" Stacie asked warily.

Aubrey shrugged. "I'm petty and insecure. You're hot and naturally flirtatious. It's like a Shakespearean comedy in itself. Or at least Austen-esque."

Stacie frowned. "I want to put in a no-fighting policy on this relationship."

"But if you do, you miss out on the best part."

Stacie lifted an eyebrow.

"Making up." Aubrey pointed out.

"Go on." Stacie urged.

"Make up sex." Aubrey added.

"My attention: you have it."

Aubrey pointed at herself. "If I'm at fault, I'll be wildly apologetic and contrite, and be extra-attentive to your needs." She placed her hand on Stacie, right against her collarbone. "And we're still yet to discover your make up sex behavior."

Stacie looked thoughtful. "Last night was our first fight."

Aubrey already knew where Stacie's train of thought was going. "Your mom will kill me."

"I promise to weep on your grave." Stacie replied, grinning, her hand slipping under Aubrey's pajama top to touch skin, in a promise of what was to come.

Aubrey allowed herself the momentary distraction before she caught herself, and grabbed Stacie's hand and pulling it around to her back. "No."

"But… make up sex…" Stacie whined.

"Rain check."

Stacie pouted. "Then why bring it up at all?"

Aubrey smiled, and leaned in close, nudging their noses together before placing a brief kiss on Stacie's pouting lips. "To reassure you that there's a silver lining to fighting."

"I still don't like the idea of us fighting." Stacie mumbled.

"No," Aubrey agreed. "But it's better to be realistic and expect them."

Stacie sighed, and pursed her lips. "New topic?"

"Please."

"Denise and Cynthia Rose know I'm seeing someone."

This time, it was Aubrey's turn to arch an eyebrow.

"They were the ones who convinced me to try and call you." Stacie admitted.

"Your freak out was that bad?" Aubrey asked, surprisingly sympathetic, releasing her hold on Stacie's hand and sliding her hand up Stacie's arm, reaching up to brush a lock of hair from Stacie's face.

"You stopped calling."

Aubrey exhaled. "Yeah. Those international charges were going to be a headache."

"Thanks a lot, Aubrey."

Aubrey shrugged, because there was no defense against international call charges, so she addressed the matter at hand. "Are you okay with them knowing?"

Stacie took a deep breath. "Honestly? I don't know. I have a feeling CR's horrible at keeping secrets, but maybe Denise can keep her in check. But Denise will want me to talk to her about it, _this_ , and I don't know if I can, or if I want to, with anybody yet." She glanced away briefly, as if gathering the courage to say what she had to say next, before finally landing her gaze back upon Aubrey. "Chloe already suspects something."

Aubrey was silent for a long moment, her gaze fixed on Stacie's features, as if months and months of personnel assessment gave her some kind of insight on reading people. Finally, she asked softly, "do you _want_ to tell them about us?"

Stacie sighed. "I don't know."

"Stacie."

"I want to, of course I do. I'm dating this super-hot, super-awesome girl, who can actually pay for stuff, and thinks I'm awesome and amazing and _impressive_ , and we're in love, which is…" Stacie shook her head, unable to find adequate words to capture the sentiment, but then she sighed again. "But you're right, and they still really think of you as the girl who was our captain freshman year. The Aubrey Posen I know and love is the same girl they're terrified of, and that sucks, because I just…" She threw her hand up in frustration. "I want you to be able to visit me, to sleep on my bed at the house, to have some kind of Barden date, for you to be a part of my life in Barden, and I feel like I can't have that, and my friends, at the same time."

Aubrey smiled sympathetically, because as much as she had predicted this exact dilemma from the start, she hated that Stacie was so torn up about it. "We'll figure it out."

"How?" Stacie asked, agitated.

"I have no idea." Aubrey admitted. "But I'm grounded until the end of January, so we have until then to figure it out."

"Super." Stacie said dryly.

Aubrey smiled. "Bet you wish you'd waited until a decent hour so we can have this discussion."

At the reminder of why she'd started the day earlier than what would be considered normal, Stacie perked up. "It's Christmas! You owe me presents!"

Aubrey faltered. " _Presents?_ " Plural?

Stacie nodded excitedly.

"Now?" At more nodding from Stacie, Aubrey sighed, and turned away, leaning over the side of the bed to her bag, extracting a gift-wrapped box and tossing it onto the bed, and then pulled out her organizer and sat back up, facing Stacie.

Stacie waited patiently, although she was looking a little less enthused, seeing only a single gift, but her gaze kept cutting to the organizer, glancing at it with curiosity.

"Okay, coming from London kind of ruined it, but I actually do have something for you in New York," Aubrey began, and handed over the wrapped box. "And I didn't really get to go around, we just went to the usual tourist traps, so—"

Stacie frowned. "Are you seriously trying to make me not want your gift, because you obviously don't know me very well."

Aubrey rolled her eyes, and gestured to the box. "Fine. All yours."

Stacie gave her a pointed look, and ripped open the wrapping on the box, and paused when she saw the packaging the wrapper was hiding. She looked up at Aubrey with pleasant surprise. "No."

"Tourist trap." Aubrey shrugged.

Stacie stared at her for a long moment, before turning back to her gift, and pulled out one of two boxes, lifting the lid, and laughed. "A Marauder's Map?" She lifted the paper, and started unfolding it, revealing the artwork. "Oh my God this is awesome."

"You like it?"

"Are you kidding? I love it." Stacie laughed, turning back to Aubrey to kiss her cheek. "If they send you to England, are you going to send me the entire Harry Potter gift shop, because that's the only way I'll let them take you away from me."

Aubrey sombered at the reminder, and Stacie's buoyant grin faded. "Oh! No? Sorry. We're not dealing with that yet, huh?"

Aubrey sighed. "I keep hoping that if I ignore it, they will, too."

"Never underestimate the power of denial," Stacie acknowledged agreeably. She pointed at Aubrey's organizer. "What's that for?"

Aubrey looked at her, and then at the other box still unopened on Stacie's lap. "Are you gonna open that?"

"Later." Stacie pointed at the organizer again, more pointedly.

Aubrey rolled her eyes, and opened the organizer's pages, before finding what she was looking for and handing it over to Stacie.

Stacie read the receipt print out, and frowned. "What am I looking at?"

"It's a claim stub."

"For-?"

"For an Atlanta pass for the coming year."

Stacie looked up, and frowned at her in confusion.

Aubrey rolled her eyes. "Are they not teaching this in Barden? Is Chloe not telling you anything?" She went through her organizer again, and handed a flyer to Stacie. "Since you didn't win the scavenger hunt, I talked to some of the organizers, and they publish an annual pass for establishments around Atlanta for discounts or free stuff throughout the year. That," Aubrey pointed to the voucher in Stacie's hand, "is proof of purchase when they deliver the booklet to you."

Stacie picked up her Marauder's Map. "I think I prefer my frivolous present."

Aubrey pouted at her.

"Nothing says you love me like a free meal?" Stacie gave her a skeptical look. She knew Aubrey was practical and somewhat of a cheapskate, but to demonstrate it with her Christmas gift? " _Aubrey._ " She turned to the other box on her lap, and lifted the lid. And, _oh._ She might have to take back her sentiment about how much of a cheapskate Aubrey was. "What even…?"

Aubrey watched her carefully, grinning, because, sure, her practical gift had just been dismissed offhand, but she knew Stacie would learn to appreciate the Atlanta pass. In the meantime, Stacie had two more gifts at hand. "Yes? No?"

Stacie lifted the document inside, staring at the words. And then she looked up at Aubrey. "I got into Hogwarts?"

" _Anastasia_ Conrad got into Hogwarts." Aubrey quipped, pointing to the envelope still within the box, indicating "Ms. A. Conrad", and making Stacie shoot her a glare.

Stacie placed her claim stub with the letter and map in one of the boxes, and set them aside, placing them gently on the floor beside the bed. She turned back to Aubrey, and knelt in front of the blond girl. "Okay, clearly you get off on my given name, and that's fine, because it's Christmas and you got me into Hogwarts. But if you think you can give me presents that awesome and not have sex, you're seriously mistaken and really don't know me at all."

"In which case I'm glad we're doing this without your mom around, because there's one more."

"Aubrey…"

"This is less for you than it is for me," Aubrey started, and found another envelope in her organizer, before she paused, hesitating. She glanced at Stacie, and thrust the envelope forward. "Here."

Stacie didn't touch it. "What is it?"

"It's…" Aubrey exhaled. "I know you joked that eighty percent of our relationship is in hotel rooms, but honestly it feels like it's more than that, and we keep on meeting in states that vote Republican, which made it harder for us to really figure out what this was, which is the only reason I get it, why you freaked out, because honestly, I probably would have, too." She toyed with the edges of the envelope. "The last thing I'd want you to feel, being with me, is that you're a dirty secret I keep in hotel rooms across the southeast."

Stacie tilted her head inquisitively. "I don't feel that way."

"Yeah, but others might." And even though she didn't say it outright, it was clear who, or rather, what group of people, in particular, Aubrey considered when she said that, and Stacie couldn't help but wonder about whether or not Aubrey was right about the Bellas.

Stacie furrowed her brow, before taking hold of the envelope and opening it, pulling out flight vouchers. She cast a brief glance at Aubrey, and then examined the details of the vouchers. "There's no date or destination."

Aubrey shrugged. "You weren't picking up my calls."

Stacie frowned. "But you bought these anyway?"

"I didn't know what was going to happen." Aubrey admitted. "If we made up, then you could use them to see me while I'm grounded in New York. If you decided you weren't ready, and broke things off, well, you could see your mom, or use them for the finals, I don't know. But I wanted to give you something that could take our relationship out of the South."

Stacie stared at her, dumbfounded. "Your gift is a book, oh my God. I'm the worst girlfriend ever."

"I like books." Aubrey was quick to reassure.

"I don't think you like books enough to make up for a Hogwarts letter, a Marauder's Map, free—"

"Discounted."

"-discounted food for a year and plane tickets." Stacie groaned. She pointed at Aubrey. "When my first patent comes through, I'm so buying you a ton of stuff."

Aubrey laughed. "Stacie."

"I don't know!" Stacie exclaimed, clearly flustered, and desperate to level out their dynamics. "You can put it anywhere you want?"

There was a beat, with Aubrey frowning in complete confusion, before Stacie threw up her hands.

"I don't know!" Stacie cried out again, and shrugged. "Why would you give me so much awesome things? You know I'm a poor college student with no income."

Aubrey smiled at Stacie. "Because-"

"What? Sshhhh. No, no 'because'. This is insane, Aubrey. Why?"

Aubrey laughed, because seeing Stacie flustered made her heart do funny things, and she thought it was best to cut to the chase and be honest. "Because you make me happy."

Stacie stared at her. She knew she should be melting at those words, and deep inside, she took those words and let them wrap around her heart, etching themselves into the part of her that Aubrey had claimed.

But outside?

Stacie swept away Aubrey's organizer and the envelope of tickets, kissed Aubrey, and used the force of their kiss to push Aubrey back to the bed, her hands roaming freely, desperate to touch skin. Only breaking the kiss when oxygen became an issue, Stacie refused to lose contact with Aubrey's lips, brushing their lips together as she spoke. "Aubrey?"

"Yeah?"

"You're the best Christmas gift, I swear."

Aubrey grinned, and flipped them over so that she was leaning over Stacie. "I love you, too."


	20. Chapter 20

After setting up the coffeemaker to do its business, Stacie pulled herself up and sat down on the kitchen counter, and watched as Aubrey explored the kitchen, opening drawers and cupboards. It was later in the morning, well past ten, and if either woman was curious as to why Stacie's mother hadn't bothered to wake them, neither one was bringing it up. It was when Aubrey picked up a frying pan and hefted it in her hands when Stacie decided that she couldn't keep quiet much longer. "What are you doing?"

Aubrey glanced over her shoulder at the younger woman. "Figuring out where everything is, what does it look like I'm doing?"

Stacie pointed at the pan. "Practicing for your audition for the live-action version of Tangled?"

Aubrey frowned, and turned to her. "I _was_ going to cook us breakfast, but if you'd rather make fun…"

"Shutting up." Stacie promised, lifting her hands in a gesture of surrender. "What are you cooking?"

"I don't know yet." Aubrey admitted. She shrugged. "Christmas morning used to be a tower of pancakes event when I was growing up, but you don't have flour."

"Whoa there," Stacie lifted a hand, stalling Aubrey. "'Tower of pancakes'?"

Aubrey nodded absently, and gestured with her hands, at least a foot apart, an approximate height for said towers. "My mom used to tell me it was so guests would show up early and leave us alone the rest of the day, but I'm only partly sure she was kidding."

"We're so following that tradition." Stacie declared. She repeated, mostly to herself, " _tower of pancakes_."

Aubrey lifted an eyebrow at her, but opted not to pick up on that thread, figuring some things were best left to the abstract and not examined too closely. "So pancakes are out. So are waffles, or crepes."

"You make crepes?" Stacie was inappropriately excited by the prospect of a girlfriend who could make crepes, and she knew it.

"What were you fed as a child?" Aubrey asked curiously.

"Pop Tarts." Stacie shrugged. As if having been asked the question often in the past, she explained, "My mom used to take a lot of night shifts for the pay differential. She makes the best PB&J."

Aubrey only merely nodded, and declared, "We're going to pick up a few stuff later." But for now, she put her hands to her hips, and frowned. "Do you at least have eggs?"

Stacie pointed to the refrigerator. "You're not going to suddenly tell me you know how to cook eggs in a hundred ways, right, because I might never let you leave my side if you do."

Aubrey took out the carton, and rolled her eyes at Stacie. "Not a hundred, no." She placed the carton on the counter, and examined the leftovers. She took out some ham, and cheese, and milk. She paused, and then turned to Stacie. "Your mom's not allergic to eggs or dairy, right?"

"Will you throw up if I said yes?"

Aubrey narrowed her eyes at her in a glare.

Stacie rolled her eyes. "She's not allergic." She watched as Aubrey nodded in satisfaction, and proceeded to the stove with her ingredients. "And, are you seriously still sucking up to my mom, because you should know that she likes you already."

"I'm sorry, but you must have me mistaken for someone not sleeping with her daughter." Aubrey retorted. She pointed to the loaf of bread beside Stacie, who obediently handed it over.

"No, really: she thinks you keep me honest." Stacie insisted. Off Aubrey's skeptical expression, she expounded: "If you haven't noticed, I'm kind of a flirt."

Aubrey let out an indelicate snort at that, making Stacie attempt to kick her, despite the respectable distance between them. "What? No way. When was _this_?"

Stacie mocked her own laughter. "Funny."

"And she thinks I'm going to keep you from flirting?" Aubrey asked warily. "Because now would be a good time to tell her that I don't work miracles."

"You got me into a relationship." Stacie pointed out.

"To be fair, we both kind of stumbled our way into this relationship." Aubrey pointed out.

Stacie conceded that point. She went to the coffeemaker, and poured a cup each for herself and Aubrey. After handing over a cup, she brought the cream and sugar to Aubrey, and watched as Aubrey mixed her drink. "Anyway, it's still a feat. She was never too impressed about my lack of interest in relationships, and don't get her started on how often I get an STD test."

Aubrey paused, and turned to her. "Why does your mom know how often you—"

"Health insurance coverage." Stacie rolled her eyes. "She told me the primary holder had to be informed about everything I do, which I think we both now regret."

"I see." Aubrey tilted her head to the side inquisitively. "And how often _do_ you get an STD test?"

"I don't know. Every three months? More, if I know they're sleeping with other people, too."

Aubrey shook her head in bemusement, and mused, "Better safe than sorry."

"Exactly." Stacie picked up her own mug, and stepped up behind Aubrey, and kissed her cheek soundly. "Thanks for the time you're saving me from sitting in clinic waiting rooms."

Aubrey laughed, and smiled as she felt Stacie start to kiss down the side of her neck. She lifted her hand to idly play with the other girl's hair. "You're welcome."

"And for letting me freak out when I did."

"You should probably know there's got to be a whole lot of freaking out left ahead of us."

Stacie paused from the trail of kisses she was placing on Aubrey's neck, before she sighed, and rested her chin on the blonde's shoulder. "Remind me why being in a relationship's a good thing?"

"Moral support."

Stacie grumbled playfully.

"Love, unconditional?"

"I guess." Stacie mumbled, although Aubrey could feel her smile against her shoulder.

Aubrey rolled her eyes. "Sex on demand."

"Now you're talking." Stacie chuckled. "I love you."

"Love you too. But," Aubrey still shrugged Stacie off her shoulder to be able to return to her task of cooking.

Stacie acquiesced, and returned to her earlier perch on the kitchen counter. "When do you need to get back to the city?"

"The fourth."

"Leave time?"

"Break." Aubrey corrected. "We've actually officially been on Christmas break since the 22nd, but we had to fly out."

"And when do you get to start traveling again?"

"Probably mid-February."

"We have a date for Presidents' Day." Stacie reminded.

"I haven't forgotten." Aubrey assured her. She paused, and glanced at Stacie. "I know it's after semis, but what are you doing for Spring Break?"

Stacie shrugged. "We're either heading to New Orleans with Ashley or shacking up at Chloe's in Florida. Why?"

"I might have to travel for work around that time, but if I'm not, do you want to go somewhere?"

"And you coming along to New Orleans or Florida isn't an option?" Stacie asked.

"How do you think the Bellas would feel about Spring Break with me around?" Aubrey countered, because they both knew the current crop of Barden Bellas were not Aubrey's biggest fans.

Stacie sighed, because she really needed to figure that part out; since Denise and Cynthia Rose already knew part of the equation, it really was just a matter of time before she would have to tell the rest of the girls, and inform them about the most important detail about her relationship, which was the identity of exactly who she was dating.

Aubrey finished preparing the ham and cheese sandwiches, placing them on the pan to fry, and after checking on the pot of water she was waiting to boil, went up to Stacie in a placating manner. "I'm sorry if I'm putting you in a tough spot."

Stacie sighed again. "It just sucks that we have to consider other people, you know?"

Aubrey smiled faintly in response. "That's why they say happiness doesn't exist in vacuum."

"Is that what this has been?" Stacie asked, looking down to watch Aubrey take hold of her hands. "And does that mean that the more people are involved, the less happy we're going to be?"

"That's the theory."

Stacie made a face. After a moment, she frowned up at Aubrey. "Have you told any of your friends about me?"

Aubrey blew out a breath. "A few."

"And what did they say?"

"Other than making fun of me for dating a former intern, a college student, _and_ a Barden Bella?" Aubrey asked dryly. "Mostly they're just happy, and glad that I'm actually taking a relationship seriously."

"Why are they making fun of you?" Stacie asked curiously.

Aubrey exhaled. "Well, the irony of my job – making sure organizations adhere to the rules set in place – and how we started dating. You're still in school, an undergraduate, no less, which is like every dirty fantasy when you're supposed to be a functioning adult. And, well, the last part's mostly from people who knew me from, or right after, college."

Stacie raised an eyebrow.

"You know," Aubrey shrugged, pulling away and returning to the stove to turn the sandwiches and poach the eggs. "The way I tried so hard to put the Bellas behind me and ended up dating one."

Stacie considered what Aubrey had just told her, and wondered exactly how Aubrey must be taking the jibes at her relationship. "And you're okay with that?"

Aubrey glanced over at her, tilting her head inquisitively.

"That they make fun of you for who you're dating?"

Aubrey rolled her eyes. "They make fun of me regardless, and I know they're actually happy for me, so it's not as bad as it sounds."

And that, Stacie realized belatedly, was the big question in telling the Bellas about her relationship with Aubrey: She honestly had no idea how they were going to react to it. Would they be happy that she was happy dating someone and in a serious relationship with someone? Sure. But to find out it was _Aubrey_?

She'd seen their expressions, the Sunday after Halloween, when Aubrey had called Beca as a distraction. There had been alarm and trepidation, in varying degrees, as if the mere act of Aubrey calling Beca's phone would mean the end of their idyllic existence and mark a return to the complete soul-crushing exhaustion that had been characteristic of their rehearsals under Aubrey's guidance. Stacie knew that a lot of them never saw past the determination and need to succeed to realize _why_ Aubrey had been so ruthless in getting the Bellas competition-ready. She also knew that with the exception of herself and Chloe, and maybe Beca, none of the other girls understood that while they may have won that very first ICCA Final because of Beca's set, they wouldn't have gotten as far as they had if Aubrey and Chloe hadn't been so driven for them to be the best.

After all, Aubrey had only _just_ started warming up to them, considering them more friends than merely teammates, when they'd won the ICCAs, and before they knew it, finals and graduation were just around the corner.

Stacie mulled it over, trying to figure out how to merge her relationship into her life in Barden, particularly where the Barden Bellas were involved, and was so preoccupied that she couldn't even bring herself to be bothered when New Year's Eve came around and they were still in Pennsylvania, even though Aubrey's phone clearly had some issues with that fact.

Stacie looked away from _Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire_ to watch as Aubrey picked up her phone for what seemed like the hundredth time that night, read the incoming message, and typed out a response. "What's wrong?"

Aubrey shook her head. "I didn't tell them I was back in the country. But I guess one of them's stalking your Instagram and noticed my bag in one of the pictures."

"What?" Stacie started to reach for her phone to check, but Aubrey stalled her hand. "He's harmless, I promise. Just really curious about you."

"How did I not know one of your friends follows me on Instagram?"

"Because the Bellas are minor celebrities and all your social media accounts are public?" Aubrey suggested.

"Is that why all your profiles are locked and private?" Stacie demanded.

"Partly." Aubrey admitted. "And also because I've been advised to keep separate private and public accounts and I actually haven't had time to go through the motions of setting up a public profile."

"I can't believe this." Stacie frowned. "So what if your bag's in a picture?"

"He's going between being ecstatic and being angry; I'm having some whiplash on that, myself."

Stacie furrowed her brow. "Why is he happy?"

"Proof that I'm not having some random girl pose for pictures for my phone and calling and sending me messages?" Aubrey surmised. "My bag in your room is like hard evidence, I guess."

Stacie laughed. "What!"

"Why do you think he's stalking your Instagram? He's been looking for proof that I'm not making you up."

"Why would he—" Stacie stopped herself, shook her head, and realigned her question. "And why is he pissed off?"

"Because we're supposed to be at his New Year's Eve party." Aubrey informed her.

Stacie blinked, because now that she thought about it, they _were_ supposed to be at a New Year's Eve party in New York. More specifically, they were supposed to be in Times Square. "But…?"

"But the last time he heard, you weren't taking my calls. And I was in England. The last thing I want is for us to be celebrating New Year's with my friends who you don't know and probably won't be very kind about the fact that you were blowing me off since before Thanksgiving." Aubrey pointed out.

"And you're seriously choosing a Harry Potter marathon over a New Year's Eve party?" Stacie asked warily.

"I really don't want to field questions about us, and about England, to start or end a year, so…" Aubrey shrugged.

"What about us?" Stacie asked curiously.

Aubrey glanced at her in confusion.

"What questions would they ask about us?" Stacie asked, clarifying her question.

Aubrey sighed, because while she liked that her friends were concerned about her welfare, especially in regards to her relationship with Stacie, she had no idea what she'd done to make them so overly invested in it. (A complete lie, because most of them had stood by as witnesses to her train wreck of a year before she took the assignment in Philadelphia, and this new relationship with Stacie had them clamoring for every ounce of information they could find.) "Like why you wouldn't take a call."

"But you know why."

"Yeah. And they're going to ask why the prospect of being in a relationship freaked you out that much, and so we'll have to discuss your entire dating history, and probably mine, and they'll try to figure out our weakest points and magnify them." Aubrey said, sounding tired. "And they mean well, I know, but I really just don't want to deal with that tonight."

Stacie moved closer, and put her head on Aubrey's shoulder. "That sounds a lot like how the Bellas will react."

Aubrey turned slightly, and rested her head on Stacie's own. "I honestly don't know who'll be worse. At least I know my friends just enjoy taking shots. They'll be rude, but they'll welcome you anyway."

"You think the Bellas won't welcome you?"

"I think the Bellas have a whole dynamic that isn't very kind to outsiders." Aubrey admitted. She quickly added, "And that's nothing against you. It isn't even _new_. It's been like that for a very long time, because the Bellas have always kind of been standing on their own forever, that it's just a defense mechanism. I just never thought I'd see the day that I'll be the outsider the Bellas will be protecting itself _from_."

Stacie sighed. "I want to tell them."

"I know."

"I just don't know _how_."

"I know." Aubrey agreed.

Stacie lifted her head, making Aubrey lift her own in turn, and they faced each other. Stacie gazed thoughtfully at the blonde. "Maybe you should just show up one day declaring your love for me."

Aubrey narrowed her eyes at her. "You've seen one too many teen movies."

"I was going to say let them walk in on us having sex in the gym, but I know the gym's sacred to you."

Aubrey momentarily faltered, because, _oh_ , she'd had no idea sex in a public place was even anywhere near the table, and while she'd never considered it, she realized now why it held a certain appeal. She wasn't much for exhibitionism, but she certainly understood the thrill in the risk of being caught. After all, the possibility of being caught was partly why sneaking around had been their modus since they started seeing each other.

And, yes, Stacie was right: the gym where the Barden Bellas rehearsed _was_ sacred to Aubrey. And she really shouldn't be thinking of having sex in it. Especially with another Barden Bella. Like on the bleachers. Or under it. Or by the piano.

Stacie snapped her fingers in front of Aubrey's face, startling the blonde out of her momentary trance. Aubrey turned to the smirking brunette, and a moment of understanding passed between them. Stacie lifted an eyebrow knowingly. "Put a pin on it?"

"We really shouldn't." Aubrey bit her lip.

"But it'll be _so much fun_." Stacie drawled.

Aubrey let out a soft whine, already knowing she was going to lose this battle, and it was really only a matter of time.

Stacie smiled in triumph, and like a gracious winner, didn't push the issue. "So I was thinking maybe breaking it to them slowly? Like, telling a few of them at a time."

"We both know that the moment you tell anyone who you're dating that the whole thing's going to be blown apart." Aubrey pointed out.

"So I don't tell them your name right away."

"If you tell them you're dating someone and don't give them a name, they're going to speculate." Aubrey warned.

Stacie threw up her hands in frustration. "I don't know, Aubrey! I'm serious: just show up, start making out with me, and let them figure it out themselves."

"Do I bring wine, or champagne?"

"Bring tequila." Stacie muttered. "Because we're all going to need to get drunk for that clusterfuck."

Aubrey smiled in sympathy. "Let's go with your original plan."

"Oh, really? The one you're poking holes all over?" Stacie remarked sarcastically.

"Maybe you're right and breaking the news gently will make it less shocking." Aubrey acknowledged. "At least it'll help them get used to the idea."

Stacie groaned, and dramatically dropped down to rest her head on Aubrey's lap. "Why did you have to be such a bitch when you were captain?"

Aubrey had no answer for that one, so she merely placed her hand on top of Stacie's head and started to run her fingers through the girl's brown hair.

Stacie sighed, and lifted her gaze up to look at Aubrey. "Just promise me that no matter how bad they get, that you won't break up with me?"

"That'll take away the whole point, won't it?" Aubrey joked, earning herself a playful hit to her shoulder. "Ow. And I promise."

Stacie gazed at her for long moment. Finally, she declared, "But you're so going to be the one to deal with Chloe."

Aubrey sighed in resignation, and mutely nodded.


	21. Chapter 21

She had known, ever since she'd confided in Denise and Cynthia Rose about her relationship status, that things would be different. Being in an official relationship with Aubrey meant everything was different. Sure, her friends suspected _something_ , but it wasn't like they would ever have figured out _exactly_ what was going on.

It wasn't like her dating Aubrey was anything out of the realm of possibility, or that anything about it was out of this world, especially when she considered the fact that they had spent most of the week between Christmas and New Year's Day watching old movies and cartoon specials, and Stacie had taken the opportunity to try and educate Aubrey on the finer points of the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, with bonus The Hobbit viewing. (Aubrey would learn to love her again eventually. Probably.)

But the break had to end, and it brought Stacie back to Georgia while Aubrey returned to New York, and this time, Aubrey couldn't promise when she could see Stacie next, because she was stuck at the office, and Stacie had Regionals coming up.

So Stacie focused on her schoolwork and the Bellas, pointedly ignoring her friends' curious looks on how much different she was since their winter tour, and just laughed along to the crude jokes from Fat Amy about how many people she must have banged to get out of her pre-Christmas funk.

But she could feel it: the way Cynthia Rose always seemed at the brink of wanting to spilling the beans, and just barely kept in line by Denise; and the way Chloe and Beca kept casting upon her an analyzing look whenever she stayed with any of the other Bellas when they went to campus parties.

She could feel the truth practically clawing its way to the surface, desperate to be heard, and she wondered if it was inevitable that she would suddenly blurt it out, or if she would be given the opportunity to plan the announcement.

"What happened to figuring this out slowly?" Aubrey questioned, when Stacie told her about her dilemma.

"I can't." Stacie shook her head, even though Aubrey couldn't see her. "I want to, I tried, but I can't wait. I got here, and all I could think of was why can't I tell my friends? And it's… I want to be able to answer your calls when you call, and text you just because. When you start flying out again, I want to be able to tell them why I was skipping out on rehearsals."

"You've been skipping out on rehearsals?" Aubrey asked sharply, making Stacie roll her eyes, because really? _That's_ what Aubrey was concerned about?

"Once or twice." Probably more, but Stacie wasn't about to tell her former Bella captain that.

"Stacie…"

"It's fine." Stacie said dismissively. "Those weren't really serious, anyway, and we practice every day."

Aubrey could only grumble in response since she couldn't really object, being the direct beneficiary of Stacie's truancy, but she could still demonstrate some disapproval. She opted to change the subject. "How are rehearsals for Regionals?"

Rehearsals were great. Despite their still-tense relationship, renewed now that competition time was actually here and Beca had helped put together the song list for the Treblemakers' set, Beca and Chloe really were a formidable team. And if they could put together a Barden Bella set that was good when they weren't on the best of terms – which would probably be a forgotten rift once they won Regionals – Stacie could pretty much predict their victory in the finals.

But Regionals came first, and knowing that Aubrey had been in North Carolina and watched the quarterfinals the previous year made Stacie hope for an impromptu visit, but those hopes were dashed when Aubrey got sick and absolutely could not travel. The Bellas won, as Stacie expected them to, and she begrudgingly acknowledged the fact that she would have to wait until Presidents' Day to see Aubrey again.

But maybe she should have been more careful about the things she wished for.

Because as she'd feared and worried about, Chloe hadn't entirely dropped the matter of Stacie possibly dating someone behind the Bellas' collective back, and had been observing Stacie since their previous conversation, watching her mope through Thanksgiving and the winter tour, and then coming back from Christmas break all recharged and ready to face the world, all pretty and witty and bright, but only a few short weeks later, around Regionals, there was some obvious disappointment in her features.

It was a pendulum of emotions, and Chloe knew exactly what could be causing it, because she had been the same, way back when she had not yet known, and been emotionally invested in, one Beca Mitchell.

And watching Stacie's hopes start an upswing once more, nearing the 14th of February, Chloe decided to take matters in her own hands, because for all of Stacie's sexual experience, she knew that the younger woman lacked a level of maturity when it came to certain aspects of dating. And if the person on the receiving end of Stacie's affections could manipulate her feelings as easily as they had been, well, clearly Chloe had to intervene.

Which is why, one week before the date, while all the Barden Bellas were gathered in their house's kitchen, Chloe declared Galentine's Day.

"In English?" Beca asked blankly.

"More accurately, Galentine's Weekend." Chloe corrected, and, yup, Stacie's head snapped up, with just a barely-noticeable amount of alarm. "Valentine's Day weekend. No boys. We're going to celebrate the female friendship in the best way possible."

"Chloe, you're hot, but you're not really my type, and that really goes out to all of you," Fat Amy told her teammates, and Chloe rolled her eyes at her. Fat Amy continued, nonplussed. "I know you'd all want to get up on this, but this wonderland is not for the female persuasion."

Stacie glanced around, willing someone – anyone – to point out that they had a date, and Galentine's Weekend had to be a no-go, but in the group, very few were in relationships: Fat Amy was on-again/off-again with Bumper Allen, but from the upswing in her social life lately, they were obviously on one of their "off" periods; Cynthia-Rose had met someone over winter break, but that relationship was still in its earliest stages, so Stacie wasn't sure what to make of it yet; Lilly had been kind of dating Donald, but after he had graduated the previous year, she hadn't heard anything on that front anymore. Denise mostly just dated casually, and who even knew what Flo was up to socially. And Ashley and Jessica were happy in their discreetly-official relationship. Which left Beca, who was her best bet, but knowing the girl, she was probably hoping to get out of what was sure to be a cliché Valentine's Day outing with her Treblemaker boyfriend.

Well, she _did_ hope to break the news to her friends inevitably. Stacie raised her hand. "I can't."

She should have known to be worried about the glint in Chloe's eyes. "Why is that, Stacie?"

Stacie shrugged. "I have plans."

It was exactly like the movies, without the audible record scratch, because it was like time stopped, as the girls all stopped to turn and look at Stacie, because she'd previously made it clear that Valentine's Day was making a promise that she didn't believe in, and now she had _plans_ for the day?

"Whoa." Jessica breathed, and her single whispered exclamation put life back to the frozen tableau, the Bellas started whispering among themselves.

The speculation had commenced.

Chloe raised an eyebrow at her roommate. "Are you sure?"

Stacie frowned, because that was a really weird question to have. "Um… pretty sure." She confirmed.

"Because I think you had plans for Regionals, too, and that didn't happen." Chloe went on.

Stacie bit her lip, wondering what trap Chloe was setting up, and yet feeling like she was walking into it, anyway. "Those weren't _definite_ plans. This one is."

"Oh?" Chloe ignored the curious looks she was getting from the other girls, because she _had_ Stacie, the girl just didn't know it yet. "What plans are those?"

Okay, damn it, Aubrey hadn't told her what the exact plans were, only that she was setting something up and would send Stacie details on when and where, and Stacie wished she hadn't made fun of Aubrey being so dedicated to planning and examining the fine details, because the teasing was what had led Aubrey to declare she was keeping Stacie out of the loop until she'd finalized their plans. "Um…"

"You know what?" Chloe smiled, and her usually warm and winning smile sent a chill right up Stacie's spine, because she could practically hear the _"hook, line, and sinker"_ in it. "We'll make an exception for you."

Stacie glanced at her friends, who were all watching the exchange with what she could only describe as morbid curiosity, and she could see Fat Amy, Cynthia-Rose, and even Flo, watching the proceedings while sharing a bag of chips. "What do you mean?"

"Invite your date over." Chloe suggested, in a very thinly-veiled threat that it wasn't so much a suggestion as it was a command. "As your friends, we should vet whoever had managed to tie down Stacie Conrad."

Stacie scoffed, except it sounded a lot more like a sputter. "You really don't have to do that."

"I know." Chloe pulled her lips into a smile that could only be described as manic. "That's what makes me so nice."

Stacie forced herself to smile back, hoping it looked more calm than anxious. "No, I mean, it's really very unnecessary."

She knew, from the moment she stopped speaking, that she had oversold how unnecessary it was.

"Oh," Chloe shook her head, gazing pointedly at her, "but it _is_."

Maybe she and Aubrey could mutually agree to break up for a week, and avoid this, but Stacie didn't want that to happen, even as a joke. Stacie bit her lip, and tried to dissuade Chloe from her line of thought. "It hasn't been that long, so it probably isn't that serious, so…"

"You have a date for Valentine's Day and it's not serious?" Beca asked curiously, with just a hint of incredulity.

Stacie shot her a betrayed look to convey her disappointment, because _clearly_ Beca had forgotten about their previous truce from her phone call that summer.

"You've never mentioned dating anybody." Ashley noted, and that was when Stacie knew for sure that her friends have been talking about her behind her back, and evidently this was open season now.

Fat Amy nodded. "Explains all the disappearing."

 _Oh._ Stacie hesitated, because she was only now realizing that she _hadn't_ been that discreet about it, and the Bellas had just let her off the hook. "It's a little more complicated than—"

"Complicated?" Chloe echoed, picking up on the word. "How complicated is it to pick you up here and meet your friends?"

Beca glanced at Stacie, who looked like she was ready to bolt in a panic, and sighed, wanting to keep the peace among her friends. "Guys, if Stacie wants to keep something private, we should let her."

"Yeah, Chloe, maybe you should-" Denise began, but Chloe shook her head, cutting her off.

"No. I'm sorry if I'm coming off harsh, but it obviously sometimes makes her sad, and I want to know what their intentions are with my friend, because this kind of tip-toeing around can't go on forever." Chloe declared.

"And you don't like having to lie to us." Cynthia Rose added, a declaration which made both Denise and Stacie turn to glare at her. She paused, and then observed, "I wasn't supposed to say that."

Chloe pointed at Cynthia Rose. "My point exactly."

What sucked the most, probably, was that Stacie really wanted it. She would have preferred to have it done on her own terms, but as Aubrey had already once pointed out, nobody said no to Chloe. She just hoped Aubrey wouldn't mind the sudden change in plans.

"Aubrey Posen's—"

"We have to cancel our plans next week." Stacie interrupted, because she needed to get the news out as soon as possible. Making sure she was alone, Stacie glanced around the empty hallway of the Science Department's Anatomy Lab, where nobody not in a pre-med course dared to hang out. Once she had confirmed she was alone in the hallway, she restated in a softer tone, "we can't do what you have planned for next week."

"Oh." Stacie could practically hear the Aubrey's frown, and she _definitely_ heard the disappointment. "I guess I could get a refund, or move things around…"

"You have to come to Barden."

This time, there was an obvious pause, and Aubrey hesitated before asking, "Why?"

Stacie told her about the confrontation instigated by Chloe, in all its excruciating detail, and by the end of it Aubrey sounded more than a little piqued.

"They ganged up on you?"

Stacie sighed and shook her head, even though Aubrey couldn't see her. "No, it was more of… Chloe was bad cop, and the others were beat cops who stood by and threw in their own commentary."

Aubrey picked up on the defeated tone of Stacie's voice, and dropped her own ire, opting instead to address the matter of "Galentine's Day". "I guess I can change some of my travel arrangements. But do you want me to?"

"Yes."

"Then I'll see what I can do."

Stacie quirked an eyebrow. "Just like that?"

"Did you expect me to put up a fight? We have plans, Stacie."

"Yeah, but all you do when I talk about the Bellas is hem and haw and duck and dodge about telling them about us."

"Yes. But I've lived with Chloe for four years. She's not going to drop this until she gets what she wants." Aubrey told her. "And the whole point is to see you, so it'll be weird, but at least I get to see you, right?"

"Did you miss the part where they think you make me sad and probably partly hate you already?" Stacie queried.

"But that's justifiable." Aubrey pointed out. "At least they hate me for a reason I can defend myself against."

Stacie conceded that point, and sighed, taking a seat on one of the benches outside the laboratory. "I'm sorry I'm springing this on you."

"I thought we saw this coming back in December." Aubrey commented.

"Not like this."

"But it's not like the way our relationship's been going has been anywhere near planned or organized." Aubrey admitted.

Stacie had to smile at that, because the fact that Aubrey was still trying, despite her obvious aversion to anything spontaneous and outside her control, was a feat in itself. "Bring layers, it gets really cold at night."

Aubrey laughed. "You think I'm going to sleep in the same building with your friends? And your probably-will-be-livid roommate?"

"I want to have you on my bed, Aubrey Posen."

"You have a roommate."

Stacie chuckled. "Such a one-track mind. We're just gonna cuddle."

"You overestimate my self-control when it comes to you." Aubrey observed.

Which was not quite a declaration of love, but when Aubrey Posen, who took pride in her impulse control and will power, spoke about an absolute lack of control when it came to her? Stacie grinned, and didn't think she would stop smiling anytime that day. "Maybe you should tell me more about this lack of control."

"I love you too. But I should be finishing this workforce plan for a client, so rain check?"

Stacie made a face. "Not soon. Chloe has everyone on lookout to make sure I don't find a way to get out of Galentine's Day."

Aubrey's voice conveyed her smile. "You're sure you don't want me to book a room?"

"No." Stacie admitted. "But I think they'll believe your intentions are pure if you stay at the house."

Aubrey laughed. "It's not _my_ intentions they should be questioning."

Stacie rolled her eyes. "Get back to your workforce plan."

"I'll call you for details."

Stacie smiled, and hoping her voice communicated the tenderness that she wanted to evoke, declared, "I love you."

"I love you too." Aubrey answered, before they mutually hung up.

After a moment, Stacie's phone beeped with a message, and upon opening it, read: _And I still love you, even if you're cutting class right now._

Stacie laughed, responding with: _Business Math._

 _Gross._

 _Says the girl who graduated with a business major._

 _Is that why you want me to make the trip and come over? Because I'm not doing your homework._

 _Then why am I dating you?_

There was a long pause between Stacie's text and the reply; and the answer, when it came, read:

 _Multiple orgasms._

Stacie laughed, because – while only partly true – it never failed to amuse her that her girlfriend, who communicated with her and sent these ridiculous messages, was _Aubrey Posen_. And wished her friends would understand everything that meant to her.


	22. Chapter 22

If she were being honest, or more likely be forced to admit things under duress, she could say that if this had happened before Christmas – hell, before _Thanksgiving_ – Aubrey would have bailed on this visit, and come up with some flimsy excuse not to show up. But she knew she would be putting Stacie in a tough spot, and for all her apprehensions and uncertainty, she knew she didn't want to do that to Stacie. Not to mention the fact that she knew just how good Chloe Beale was at peer pressure, and if given enough reason, Chloe would try to talk Stacie out of the relationship, because Stacie deserved better than to have such a flake for a significant other, and Aubrey knew more than anyone that Stacie deserved better, full stop.

But Stacie liked _her_ , so she would just have to earn that distinction.

It did not make it any easier to look up at the Barden Bella house and wonder how the weekend would go, a tiny voice in the back of her mind – that sounded a lot like her high-strung, high-pitched self two years ago – pointing out just how unworthy she was to be in her current position.

And the irony that the girl who put so much value in being a Barden Bella was feeling a sense of dread at the prospect of entering the Bella House.

When her freshman self had first gazed upon the house that belonged to the Barden Bellas, Aubrey had been in awe, amazed at the concept that there would be a place that all Bellas belonged to, a haven for each and every one of them, somewhere that they would and could always belong.

But their numbers had been nearing two dozen heads, and freshmen were advised to stay in their dorms for their first year. And the next year, their captain had recruited her friends to fill the places of those who had graduated, and the lowerclassmen still couldn't move in. Aubrey and Chloe hadn't been stupid enough to think they would find a moment's rest if they had stayed there while Alice and her friends had occupied the house the year after that, and then Aubrey had lost her lunch at the Lincoln Center during the ICCA Finals.

Alice had been livid, and once she had Aubrey alone, away from her friends and definitely away from Chloe who was foolhardy enough to step in for her best friend, had verbally ripped into Aubrey, pretty much telling her just how _lacking_ she was, to be called a Barden Bella, much less to be the captain, and how hard Aubrey was going to have to work to earn that prestige back.

On one hand Aubrey was grateful that Alice never told her she shouldn't have been a Bella in the first place, but then one tenet of the Barden Bellas had always been that it was for life (despite the fact that not a few of Aubrey's peers had left and sworn off a cappella, or at least collegiate a cappella, under Alice's rule). But on the other hand Alice's verbal onslaught had been enough for Aubrey to feel undeserving of the sanctuary that the Barden Bellas' House offered, and opted not to move in for her senior year.

And Chloe, being the best friend that she was, stayed with Aubrey despite the fact that they could have had a whole house to themselves (well, maybe including Denise, who had been a sophomore at the time, but she doubted it) for what should have been their last year in Barden.

But the house still stood, and despite previous threats from Barden's school administration to have it revoked, it still belonged to the Barden Bellas.

Aubrey just wondered if she had ever been meant to know what it was like to live in it.

Because at that moment, standing at its doorstep, she realized that she was, honestly, an outsider in this situation. Yes, she knew most of the residents of the house, a few of whom she could actually honestly call her friends, but she'd been a Barden Bella, she _was_ a Barden Bella, and she knew from experience that the Bellas protected their own, and in this case, ironically, she knew that they would close ranks around Stacie and try to protect her _from_ _Aubrey_.

So while she had pretty much figured she would be earning the privilege to be the person Stacie Conrad loved for as long as Stacie let her, she knew convincing Stacie's friends – the very people she had inflicted a lot of fear and terror upon for the better part of a year – would be a battle in itself, and while maybe not imperative to her relationship with Stacie, it was probably, at least, a major factor. She would just need to suck it up and win them over.

One significant step of which was to ring the doorbell and start what Chloe had declared to be Galentine's Weekend.

After doing that, though, the door opened, on the other side of which was a girl of Latin descent, smaller than even Beca, and she looked at Aubrey from head to toe with not a small amount of wariness.

Aubrey smiled. "Hi, I—"

"Sorry, we're not buying religion today, thank you!" She declared, and then promptly shut the door.

Aubrey stared at the closed door, blinking. _What?_

Aubrey looked down at her outfit – she had gone to the airport straight from work, so she'd had to coordinate her corporate suit with more travel- and winter-friendly items, so her navy blue minidress, black skinny jeans and knee-high boots probably came off a little harsh, but she thought her cream-colored coat softened the effect of the ensemble and had to help her look at least a little more friendly, but maybe the overall effect came off too strong? Maybe too corporate? She doubted it was too evangelical (and she would know) but clearly it was too _something_ – and then looked back up, once again ringing the doorbell.

There was a longer wait, but when the door opened, Ashley took one look at her, widened her eyes, and then immediately slammed the door back shut.

Okay, that shit's just not funny anymore. Before Aubrey could press the button for the doorbell a third time, the door opened once more, and this time Ashley was joined by Jessica, and they both gave her wide-eyed stares.

Aubrey sighed, because she had obviously underestimated her former teammates' highly-stressful emotional response when it came to her. "Can I come in?"

The two wordlessly stepped aside, allowing Aubrey to enter, but they still only stared at her.

Aubrey glanced around briefly, taking note of the lack of activity in the house, and turned back to look at the two girls. "Where's—"

"Hey, who's at the door?" Chloe asked, interrupting, as she emerged from the living room and joining the people at the entryway.

Only to stop short when she recognized their guest.

Her face broke into a wide smile, and she immediately launched herself upon the other girl, throwing her arms around Aubrey's neck in a tight hug. "Aubrey!"

Despite the trepidation, the questions, the hesitation and the guilt of everything left unspoken between them, they still had a bond of friendship forged over four years, and Chloe still gave the best hugs on the planet. Having dropped her bag right before Chloe made contact, Aubrey hugged Chloe just as tightly, because despite whatever hesitation she might feel about how she had drifted away from Chloe over the past year, and her own concerns about Chloe's continued stay in Barden, Aubrey could never deny that Chloe was the best friend she had.

Chloe squeezed Aubrey one last time, and then pulled back. "What are you doing here?"

"Stacie said you-"

"Whoa, is that tequila?" Chloe asked, cutting off Aubrey's answer to take the bottle in Aubrey's hand and examining it.

Aubrey shrugged. "I was going to bring wine, but—"

"Oh my god, I can't believe you're here!" Chloe smiled broadly, grabbing Aubrey's wrist and pulling her away from the door. "You're actually here! Seriously, what are you doing here? We have so much to catch up on, I can't even begin to tell you. But look at you! Who knew 'working girl' was your look? You're fine, right? Good? Work's okay? God, when was the last time we even had a phone conversation!" Chloe laughed lightly. "But good timing, we're having Galentine's Day Weekend! I know, I know, it's supposed to be the day before Valentine's Day, but why have one day when you can have the whole weekend! How long are you staying, 'cause you should totes stay this whole time. Oh! Did you fly in? Do you have a place to stay? We're pretty packed, but someone's bound to crash on the couch, or you can stay with me, if you don't mind some friendly groping. I have to tell you, though, I'm kinda rooming with Stacie this year, so if that's—"

"Actually, that's—"

"Oh! Have I told you about Regionals?"

The front door swung open at that moment, drowning out Aubrey's answer, and Denise, Lilly, and Stacie stomped inside.

"We bought enough food to feed an army last week, how did we already run out for this weekend?" Denise complained, ignorant of Jessica and Ashley standing by the doorway staring in the direction of the living room, as she immediately turned to walk towards the kitchen. Behind her, Lilly was about to follow, but stopped short when she saw her two teammates, following their gazes to see who was with Chloe, standing right by the living room.

Lilly's gasp was overruled by Stacie's own incredulous exclamation.

"Holy shit."

Aubrey and Chloe turned, having heard that expletive, and upon seeing Stacie, Aubrey immediately smiled. A smile which was matched by Stacie's own buoyant grin as she made eye contact with Aubrey.

Blindly shoving the paper bags in her arms towards Jessica and Ashley, Stacie walked up to Aubrey and once she was within reach, without further preamble, she took hold of the front of Aubrey's coat and pulled the older girl towards herself, crashing their lips together, with Aubrey immediately responding in kind, her arms wrapping around Stacie and pulling her closer.

Six weeks was entirely too long to be apart.

Behind them, Ashley and Jessica were nudging each other, as if to ensure that they were both seeing the exact same thing, while Lilly tilted her head in curiosity, wondering how much of a surprise the scene really was.

To the side, Chloe stared blankly at her best friend and roommate kissing as if their lives depended on it, and then wordlessly twisted open the bottle in her hands to take a long hard drink from it.

Smooth, a little smoky, but she liked the sweet, nutty vanilla taste.

 _Aubrey and Stacie were making out._

Chloe turned to the rest of her friends. "You're seeing this, right?"

Ashley, Jessica and Lilly all nodded mutely, all of them knowing it was rude to stare but unable to look away.

Oblivious of their stunned audience, Stacie placed a playful bite on Aubrey's bottom lip, and grinned into their next kiss. "You were supposed to call first."

"Flight came in early." Aubrey told her, pulling her in close and not yet willing to let go.

Stacie lifted an eyebrow. "And phones don't work?"

"I forgot." Aubrey admitted, kissing Stacie again. "I've missed you."

Stacie released her grip on the front Aubrey's coat, splaying out her fingers across the fabric and moving. "And I've missed—"

"Hands!" Denise exclaimed in complete surprise, entering the room just as Stacie was about to reacquaint her hands with Aubrey's chest. "Hands in new places!"

It was a lousy interruption, but it was enough for the two lovers to snap out of their haze and remember where they were. And that they had an audience. An audience who didn't know, until a few seconds ago, about their relationship.

An audience that included Chloe.

Aubrey turned to Chloe, immediately in explanation mode, hoping to talk some things out with her best friend after being momentarily sidetracked. "Chloe—"

"I'm not nearly drunk enough for this." Chloe declared flatly, ignoring Aubrey's obvious plea and taking another drink from the bottle. She spun on her heel, trudging into the living room and sank onto the couch with her bottled new best friend.

Chloe looked perturbed enough that Aubrey didn't have the heart to tell her that the bottle was a premium brand of tequila and had an 80 ABV. But she was completely on board with the belief that the news would be better received if everyone was at least a little inebriated.

Except Chloe probably wasn't sharing, and the missing members of the group – Beca, Cynthia Rose, and Fat Amy – were still in the process of getting more alcohol, which left everyone stuck at sober, because the Bellas had donated all their alcohol to the most recent party thrown by The Treblemakers to celebrate the a cappella groups' respective Regionals victories.

Aubrey hesitated, wanting to follow Chloe but unsure if she or even Chloe were ready for that confrontation, while Ashley, Denise, Jessica and Lilly only continued to stare.

Stacie bit her lip nervously, her gaze flicking back and forth between the room in which Chloe had disappeared to and her friends who had stayed but gaped silently. Finally, Stacie turned to the four who stayed, and hesitantly offered: "Surprise?"

"No kidding." Lilly mused.

They all turned to stare at her, startled by the audible response, but almost immediately turned back to the matter at hand.

"What…" Jessica began, then stopped. She turned, clueless, to look at Ashley, who still only stood staring at Aubrey and Stacie; at the fact that Aubrey still had one arm wrapped behind Stacie's waist, and Stacie had slung an arm around Aubrey's shoulders.

Denise fared a little better, making some quick connections and asking, "Restaurant receipt?"

Ashley and Jessica turned to stare at her incredulously. All the questions in the world, and _that_ was the question she had about the scene in front of them?

Except Stacie nodded in confirmation, seemingly understanding the weird question Denise had voiced. "Restaurant receipt."

"Huh." Denise tilted her head, and considered that point as understanding dawned. The thought that it could be _Aubrey_ , their former Barden Bellas team captain, had never occurred to her, but ever since that night in the coaster van, having seen how torqued Stacie had been emotionally about the relationship she was unwittingly a part of, and witnessed Stacie's relief when her unnamed partner had sent a picture of a restaurant receipt, Denise knew the relationship was more serious than Stacie just not knowing she was in one. And seeing her now, obviously happy in that relationship, made Denise glad someone could bring that kind of happiness to someone who used to claim she wasn't really relationship material.

She would have to learn to set aside her complete and utter fear of Aubrey, but still, she was happy for Stacie. And Aubrey.

Hopefully being in love and in a happy relationship made Aubrey a lot (like, _a lot_ ) less terrifying.

(And _damn_ she should have taken that bet when Cynthia Rose tried to bet her that only a guy would have Stacie so off-center.)

"Can we go to the kitchen? I think one of those bags has the ice cream." Stacie pointed to the bags still in Ashley and Jessica's arms. She glanced at Aubrey as the other girls went in that direction. "Kitchen, or Chloe?"

Aubrey sighed, because she knew it would be difficult, but she really needed to talk to Chloe. "I think I should—"

"I'm still irrational!" Chloe yelled out, possibly in warning, and obviously having heard them.

A warning that made Aubrey wince, but heeded, as she smiled faintly at Stacie. "Kitchen sounds good."

Stacie nodded sympathetically, and taking hold of Aubrey's hand, led her to the kitchen.

Although Aubrey had no idea why the change in venue mattered, since the dining area part of the kitchen was adjacent to the living room, and from where she and Stacie sat down, she could see Chloe helping herself to the tequila.

Aubrey couldn't help but wince, because that bottle had an _80 alcohol by volume_ content, and she knew from experience that Chloe was a lightweight with hard liquor. Chloe freely drinking from that bottle had the potential to get really interesting, or really ugly.

"Chloe doesn't know." Was Ashley's insightful contribution, when Aubrey and Stacie had joined them in the kitchen, and once her brain-to-mouth nervous system finally regained function.

"No." Aubrey admitted guiltily, glancing briefly towards the living room.

"We didn't really know if there was anything _to_ tell." Stacie followed up. "We've kind of been winging this as we went along."

"'Went along'?" Jessica repeated.

"How long have you been—" Chloe demanded, drawing everyone's attention, before she cut her own question short, shaking her head. "Nope. Still not ready to hear it."

"It's not like we set out to be in a relationship," Stacie admitted. She glanced at Aubrey briefly, and gave her a bright smile before turning back to her friends. "It just kind of happened that way."

"Did she trip and fall face-first on the hunter?" Chloe snapped.

Aubrey turned, and questioned, "you know I've liked her since auditions, why is this even a surprise to you?"

Since Aubrey was facing the living room where Chloe was, she missed the looks of surprise on the faces of the girls in the kitchen. They all knew Aubrey and Stacie had had a mild flirtation going back then, and Stacie hadn't made a secret of her year-long crush on their then-captain, but Aubrey liking Stacie back _since auditions_ was an all-around surprise.

Stacie smiled smugly at the looks of surprise on her friends' faces, because, that's right, beneath Aubrey's hard-as-nails exterior two years ago had been a girl with wants and needs, and she had wanted _Stacie_.

Whatever Chloe was about in response, however, got lost in the chaos that was the entrance of the remaining Barden Bellas, primarily that of Fat Amy, who made her presence known whenever she entered a room.

"The party – also known as the alcohol – has arrived!" Fat Amy announced, and headed to the living room while Beca and Cynthia Rose went to the kitchen. She took note of Chloe, and the bottle in her hand, and stopped short. "You started early."

"Oh, you'd be drinking, too." Chloe told her.

Beca first noticed the difference in room population, between the lone figure of Chloe in the living room, and the crowded kitchen, and frowned. "Why are you all in here?"

When nobody answered, everyone instead waiting for the shoe to drop for the newcomers, Cynthia Rose sidled up to Denise by the kitchen island. "What's going on?"

Denise turned to look at her, held her gaze pointedly, and wordlessly motioned with her eyes towards the small table that acted as their dining area. More specifically, the people seated on it.

Cynthia Rose followed her gaze, examined the table, and then her eyes widened. She turned back to Denise, mouth open.

"Look again." Denise said immediately, cutting her off.

Cynthia Rose did. And noticed what she had missed previously, the fact that Stacie and Aubrey not only sat together, but sat _closely_ together, and Stacie held one of Aubrey's hands in both of hers. Cynthia Rose turned back to Denise, jaw dropped.

"Restaurant receipt." Denise filled in.

Cynthia Rose gaped. "Drill Master Former Captain is Restaurant Receipt?"

Denise nodded.

Beca frowned at the lack of response to her earlier question, and glanced over at Fat Amy, who was obliviously removing bottles of liquor from their bag and onto the shelves in the living room, and then gazed over at Chloe, who was petulantly looking at the fireplace.

And noticed something weird.

Mentally doing a head count, she noticed there were ten girls in the room, but was missing Flo. Puzzled, she checked again, and still came up with the same number.

Fat Amy saved her the trouble. "So did Stacie's mystery boyfriend show up, or—"

"Oh, it's not a boyfriend." Chloe announced for the newcomers. "It's _so_ not a boyfriend, but it's totally safe to say it's a mystery."

"Go home, Chloe, you're drunk." Fat Amy quipped.

"Not nearly enough." Chloe retorted.

"Whaaaat…" Fat Amy frowned at her, and turned to look toward the kitchen to search for clarification among her teammates, but abruptly froze when her gaze landed on one of the people looking into the living room. She clutched her hands to her chest, and stumbled back slightly. "I think I'm having a stroke."

"Stacie's dating Aubrey!" Chloe exclaimed, as if to explain why Fat Amy would be having a stroke.

"What?" Beca exclaimed, startled. She checked the heads, and, oh, that _was_ another blond head. "Aubrey!"

Aubrey turned, and smiled faintly at Beca. "Beca."

"Wait," Beca took in Aubrey and Stacie's close proximity, and their entwined hands, and what Chloe had just said, and blinked stupidly. "Chloe's not kidding?"

"She's really not," Stacie answered.

"This must be what going mad feels like." Fat Amy mused, glancing around dazedly.

Aubrey sighed, and turned to Stacie. "I hope you had a Plan B."

"No!" Chloe exclaimed, suddenly jumping up off the couch and approaching the dining table. She forcefully slammed the bottle of tequila on the table, and with a sharp and biting tone, declared, "We're having Galentine's Weekend, just as we planned."

The Bellas glanced at each other, mouthing 'we?' with absolute confusion.

Chloe turned to Aubrey, defiant, and practically daring Aubrey to declare otherwise. "You're staying. This being a Bellas-only party and by-laws state you're still a Bella."

"Are you drunk already?" Beca asked Chloe worriedly. She glanced between the two older girls, unsure of just what, exactly, the tense undercurrent between them was about, but knowing instinctively that it couldn't be anything good.

Chloe accusingly pointed at the half-empty tequila bottle, as if her already-inebriated state was entirely the alcohol's fault. "That's very strong tequila."

Jessica, who sat closest to the bottle, checked the label and her eyes widened when she saw the alcohol content. She stared at Aubrey. "80 ABV?"

"In my defense, I brought that for sharing." Aubrey said quickly.

"Super." Chloe turned back to her friends. "Let's order pizza and get this party started!"

The group glanced at each other, unsure, but nonetheless started moving from their places, preparing drinking cups and moving things off flat surfaces to accommodate drinks, and the coming pizza.

After a moment of watching the operation, Stacie turned to Aubrey, and realized for the first time just how tightly Aubrey was holding her hand. "Bree."

Aubrey glanced at her questioningly, and in response Stacie used her right hand, which wasn't in Aubrey's grip, and gently pat their entwined hands. Aubrey jerked, and relaxed her grip. "Sorry."

Stacie smiled. "That went better than expected."

"Nobody's in tears, so I'll have to agree," Aubrey concurred.

Stacie leaned in close, and kissed her gently, trying to convey just how much she appreciated Aubrey's presence at that moment. When she pulled back, she noted softly, "I was worried this was going to be too much for you."

"Yeah," Aubrey sighed, but smiled faintly. "But it was this or worry about things out of my control, and at least this lets me hang out with you."

Stacie smiled, kissing Aubrey again. "When you say stuff like that you make me want to ditch this whole thing and just find a hotel room."

"You wanted to stay with your friends," Aubrey reminded, in between kisses.

"A deep regret." Stacie replied. "Maybe we—"

 _"Ahem."_

Both women paused, and turned to face Chloe, who had apparently decided she would be policing her best friend and roommate from getting carried away.

Stacie, who was already a little irked that her weekend getaway with Aubrey had been shunned in favor of hanging out with the Bellas for Galentine's Weekend, allowed her annoyance at being interrupted from kissing Aubrey to show. "What?"

"What do you want on your pizza?"

Both Aubrey and Stacie narrowed their eyes at her, being how Chloe had lived with Aubrey for _four years_ and Stacie for nearly two, and probably knew their pizza order without any doubt, so this interruption was largely unwarranted.

But Aubrey wanted to keep the peace, and answered "ch—"

"Pepperoni." Stacie interrupted. Aubrey glanced at her, amused, while Chloe frowned.

"That's not your pizza order." Chloe noted, glancing from one girl to the other, also proving that she had interrupted them on purpose.

Aubrey shrugged. She didn't really care, and at least it wasn't going to be overloaded with toppings that fell off with each bite.

"She'll order cheese – boring – and she won't eat pizza with too many toppings, so pepperoni, please." Stacie answered Chloe. "We'll share."

Chloe glanced at her, and then at Aubrey, who merely shrugged again, and turned back to collecting pizza orders from the rest of the Bellas.

Before Stacie could turn back to Aubrey and pick up before they had been interrupted, however, Cynthia Rose occupied the seat on the bench opposite them, and grinned at them both.

After a full beat in which Cynthia Rose only grinned at them, Aubrey had to ask, "What?"

Cynthia Rose motioned to the two of them. "This is for real?"

Aubrey sighed in exasperation. "Yes."

"I thought so." Cynthia Rose shook her head, fully amused, and raised her hand for a high five.

Aubrey only stared at her.

Stacie released Aubrey's hand, taking hold of her wrist and lifting it, holding Aubrey's palm out and taking Cynthia Rose's high five with Aubrey's hand before receiving one of her own.

Cynthia Rose cackled, leaving her seat. "Didn't know you had it in you, cap."

Stacie grinned at her friend, watching her leave, before she turned back to Aubrey, leaning close to press kisses from her jaw to the back of her ear, whispering quietly, "I can think of a few things I'd like to have in you."

Aubrey's eyelids fluttered shut at the attention, at the feeling of Stacie's breath against her skin, reveling in it for a moment before she opened her eyes, turning her head to meet Stacie's gaze and gave her a knowing smile. "I could have," she held up her hand not in Stacie's grip and splayed out her fingers, "two to three things in you right now, but you wanted to meet here and told me not to book a hotel room." She leaned forward, and kissed the slightly-stunned Stacie quickly before standing up. "I have to check my inbox. You go and help your friends set up."


	23. Chapter 23

Maybe it was the strict Southern upbringing, or just the fear of disappointing her father, but nothing about letting loose and giving free reign to reckless behavior had ever appealed to her.

Aubrey had never been one for losing control in public – partly why the events in the 2011 ICCA Finals at the Lincoln Center had been so humiliating and mortifying – and when she had first heard stories about college life and how alcohol was for the most part free flowing in college parties, she had made it a point to build up as much a tolerance as she could, short of being mistaken for an alcoholic.

Watching the Barden Bellas lose their inhibition throughout the night, with Fat Amy acting as their bartender and most of the girls just pouring into their cup whatever bottle of alcohol was nearby, mixing the drinks they were consuming, and all Aubrey could think of was what would surely be a deadly hangover for all the girls in the morning.

It was probably the worst possible moment to realize just how much she had outgrown college parties.

Because it had been a while, for her, since she last attended such a party. She had climbed the corporate ladder fairly quickly, turning in lots of overtime to make up for her lack of years of experience, and she had swiftly gone from happy hour with coworkers after office hours and mandatory company events to client dinners and company galas. She still enjoyed going out with friends to bars and clubs, but she honestly can't remember the last time hardcore social drinking had been enjoyable for her.

It didn't help that the Barden Bellas were giving her a _really_ wide berth, careful to steer clear of where she was seated on a chair by the kitchen island. The tiny girl who had first answered the door that afternoon, Florencia Fuentes – "Flo" – had emerged from where Jessica had told her to run and hide, and kept asking within Aubrey's earshot why the demon captain that resided in her teammates' nightmares was invited to Chloe's party, which just served to remind Aubrey how separate her life was from these girls. The hushed conversation she wasn't supposed to hear and the deliberate way they all tried to avoid interacting with her was absurd, but understandable, but avoiding her and where she was situated was just ridiculous because the kitchen island was where the chips and most of the alcohol were, but Aubrey needed to amuse herself and watching the younger girls try to avoid her was as cheap a thrill as she could find under the circumstances.

Okay, sure, she and her friends got drunk, too. But between her reluctance to indulge in too much recklessness and the fact that one never knew just whose phone was taking pictures or recording video at any given moment – not to mention her brief claim to fame of internet infamy courtesy of losing her lunch at the Lincoln Center – Aubrey could never really loosen up, not like the Bellas were doing at the moment, not like she had often witnessed Chloe let loose.

And Chloe was _really_ letting loose. After finishing – single-handedly – the bottle of tequila Aubrey had brought, Aubrey had watched the redhead gulp down drink after drink, all the while directing the evening's activities, culminating in her latest endeavor.

Chloe sidled up to Aubrey, and gazed at her thoughtfully – or perhaps she was trying to reconcile the sight before her in her alcohol-addled, inebriated state – and pursed her lips. "Are you really back?"

"It seems like it."

"I didn't like it when you were gone." Chloe confided. "You graduated, and whoosh," she mimicked with her hand a smooth getaway. "But you're here again."

"Yes." Aubrey acknowledged, unsure of just where Chloe was going to take the conversation. Because when it came to a drunk Chloe, she could never be sure if Chloe was going to flirt with people, or be brutally honest with them. On a few rare occasions, a weepy Chloe had also made an appearance. The fact that Chloe was still upright, however, informed Aubrey that at one point someone – she was willing to bet it had been Beca – had started substituting water or really watered-down drinks for Chloe's drinks of choice.

Chloe regarded Aubrey. "You were gone, and now you're back."

"Yup."

Chloe chuckled wryly, amused. "And I'm still here."

And Aubrey wished, for the first time since she'd stepped foot in the Barden Bellas' household, that neither of them had been drinking, because that was as good an invitation as any to ask Chloe just what the hell she was still doing in Barden University, two years after she was supposed to graduate, but it didn't seem like a conversation they should have when they were both (in Chloe's case, extremely) inebriated.

"I know, I know, you're thinking to yourself, 'what the aca-fuck, Chloe' and I'd probably give you an honest answer, but you don't really want to hear it, and did you know you're dating Stacie?" Chloe asked.

Yes, Chloe was extremely inebriated. Aubrey glanced past Chloe, and noticed that the rest of the Bellas were all staying in the living room area of the main floor. And judging by the way they kept looking wistfully into the kitchen, where the alcohol was, they had obviously been directed to stay there.

"Like, how did that even happen?" Chloe continued. "I knew you were hot for Conrad, and I don't blame you, but you stopped calling, and she hasn't been a nun, and – ohmygod you're the Treble she's boning."

"What?" Aubrey asked, confused, sharply turning away from the living room to stare at Chloe.

"Wait, what?" Chloe asked herself, reviewing what she'd just said. And laughed. "Well, not 'boning', obviously, because… right. And you're obvs not a Treblemaker. Because that's a whole other… yeah. No, I was telling Stacie she was being kinda obvious about dating someone but not telling us about it, so I figured it had to be a Treble, because why else wouldn't she tell anyone, and I thought, she knew you liked her, and I knew you liked her, and we all know you don't like the Trebles – except Unicycle, which, where did _that_ even come from – but if she _was_ boning a Treble, she obviously can't tell me, because I'd tell you, and you'd send out wolves to rip out her vocal cords, which you can't, because we need her as a soprano, but she's not 'cause she's dating you which means you were the Treble I thought she was dating this whole time and wait you've been dating since before Thanksgiving?"

Aubrey wasn't nearly drunk enough for this. She frowned down at her drink, wondering if she could count on her alcohol consumption tolerance to keep her just on the right side of sober, because she evidently needed to drink more to keep up with the stream of thought that was Chloe Beale.

But somebody was clearly catching up to Chloe's alcohol intake.

"Hey girlfriend because-I-can-say-that-now." Stacie greeted, sidling up to Aubrey and wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her in close against her chest. "What're you talking about?"

"You've apparently been boning a Treble." Aubrey told her.

"Since Thanksgiving." Chloe added.

Stacie scrunched up her face in disgust. "Ew, no. Also Aubrey will stop dating me if I do, so no."

Aubrey paused, and preened, smiling up at Stacie, because even drunk, that evidently still held true for the younger woman. "You're awesome."

"I know, right?" Stacie replied, grinning down at Aubrey before leaning down for a kiss.

Chloe watched them for a moment, uncaring if it was rude, but figured if people decided to display some PDA, that was on them if people watched. She was drunk, but she knew Aubrey wasn't someone who enjoyed displaying affection in public, so for her to be so willing to do that with Stacie? "We should totes play Truth or Dare."

"Will you remember anything we tell you in the morning?" Aubrey asked, breaking her kiss with Stacie to give Chloe a sidelong glance.

Chloe frowned, giving the question considerable thought, before she concluded, "No."

"Didn't think so." Aubrey turned back to Stacie, who was using her index finger to trace her facial features, and smiled knowingly at the girl. "You're drunk."

"Just a little," Stacie admitted. "Why aren't you?"

"Consumption tolerance."

"Gesundheit."

Aubrey rolled her eyes at both Stacie and Chloe. "I have a high tolerance for alcohol. Chloe knows this."

"But you always lose at drinking games." Chloe frowned.

Aubrey shrugged.

"I don't know what you three are getting up to in here," Fat Amy started, entering the threshold of the kitchen, "but half the girls want to start a movie, and the other half wanna start playing Never Have I Ever and try and get Beca drunk, we need one or all three of you to break the tie."

"We can't do both?" Aubrey asked, while both Chloe and Stacie declared "Get Beca drunk."

"Yes!" Chloe exclaimed, jumping out of her seat and almost immediately swaying when she did, causing both Stacie and Aubrey to reach out in case she fell. "Whoa." She kept her arms out, gaining equilibrium, before turning to grab Aubrey's outstretched hand and pulling. "I'm gonna get _you_ drunk."

"You know that your kink is not my kink, right?" Aubrey reminded, allowing Chloe to pull her to the living room, while reaching out behind her to take hold of Stacie's hand to join them.

"Yeah, obviously," Chloe laughed, glancing behind her at the two girls. "No offense, but who knows what you're into to get Stacie to commit to only spreading her legs for _you_."

"Oh my God." Aubrey groaned in mortification, disbelieving the fact that Chloe actually just said what she had.

Behind her, Stacie tried to figure out if she should be more offended for herself, or on Aubrey's behalf.

Beca looked so hopeful when the trio joined the group in the living room, it actually _hurt_ Aubrey to see the disappointment in the younger girl's face when Fat Amy announced the movie had been nixed for the game. Beca apparently knew why they were playing Never Have I Ever, or this wasn't the first time the Bellas were playing it for the sake of getting Beca drunk.

However.

When Chloe handed Aubrey a shot glass for the game, Aubrey shook her head. "Oh, I'm not playing."

"That's not an option." Chloe told her.

"It'll have to be." Aubrey replied.

The girls around them stared at them, watching the exchange, because they all knew Chloe always got what she wanted, but then they also knew that when Aubrey applied her will upon anyone, the best option was surrender. In their entire experience, with one notable exception, Chloe had always adhered to what Aubrey wanted. But then again, they were on Chloe's turf now.

Chloe frowned at Aubrey. "But why?"

"Because I don't want to." Aubrey stated plainly.

"Because you always lose at this game?" Chloe questioned.

"Because I actually have the option of not playing this game." Aubrey corrected.

Chloe cut a glance at Stacie, who sat beside Aubrey, and decided to try her luck with the younger girl. "Stacie, make her play."

Stacie internally winced, having hoped she would go unnoticed, and turned to look at Aubrey, ready to do what Chloe had told her, except then she paused.

Because she knew some of the things Aubrey had been through in the past year, and there was a good chance the near-Puritanical existence that had been Chloe's experience with Aubrey was far removed from the details of the confession Aubrey had told her back in Philadelphia. She didn't know all the details yet, but she knew the rough basics, and she knew that a lot of it weren't good.

And most of Beca's most daring acts had been under the watch of the Bellas, so while they knew all the things to say to get Beca drunk, there was a likelihood that there were things Aubrey would rather not have come to light.

And as curious as she was about what those things were, Stacie knew, that there were just some things that didn't need to come out with their friends around as witnesses.

Stacie looked at Aubrey, who looked back at her with an unreadable gaze, as if daring her to make the choice on her own. She smiled faintly, letting Aubrey know that while the words were joking, she knew exactly what she was doing. "Let her be boring."

There were distinct groans of disappointment from Chloe, Fat Amy, and Cynthia Rose, but Stacie kept her gaze on Aubrey.

Aubrey smiled at her, whispering softly, "thank you."

"Yeah, 'cause I'm awesome." Stacie reminded, grinning as she gently cupped Aubrey's cheek with her hand and drew her in for a kiss. To Aubrey, she whispered, "but keep count of how many shots you owe me."

Aubrey grinned, keeping her voice as low as possible to ensure only Stacie heard her. "Love you."

"Don't you forget it." Stacie whispered back, and moved closer to Aubrey as she faced the circle, only to find everyone staring at them. She frowned back at her friends. "What?"

"Nothing." They all said in unison, most of them turning to pay close attention to Cynthia Rose and Lilly pouring the shots.

Fat Amy, however, stared at Aubrey and Stacie for a whole moment longer before confirming, "yeah, no, _this_ must be what going mad feels like."

Stacie glanced behind her at Aubrey, who shook her head.

Aubrey had always hated Never Have I Ever as a game, primarily because it was like a shaming contest, both for those who didn't go out on a limb to try new things, and also for people who liked to do exactly that. It also didn't have a clear "winner", only people who were either extremely sober, or people who were extremely drunk. It was the same reason why she hated Truth or Dare.

It was easier, in high school, because pretty much everybody had the same experiences, so the game tended to tie pretty quickly.

But in college? She can't count the number of times she'd ducked out or just started making out with whomever she was dating at the time as soon as the _idea_ of playing either game started being floated around. The latter was extremely difficult at Bella parties, but the part of her that desperately wanted to belong, that desperately wanted to fit in, wouldn't let her just opt out and be the uncool girl at the party who wouldn't play.

The irony that just when she finally started gaining the experience to earn some level of Never Have I Ever notoriety, those exact same experiences made her reluctant to have them revealed, was not lost on her.

Her friends in New York weren't much into parlor games or slumber parties, but she knew most of them had experiences that far eclipsed her own; not to mention they were the peanut gallery to her retelling of most of those experiences, so she'd never had to worry about how they would react if they ever had to play Never Have I Ever.

The Bellas were a different story.

Because she liked to think that these girls respected her. She _knew_ that these girls were afraid of her. And she had cultivated that fear, practically reveled in it. She liked that their fear of her was keeping them from prodding too much into her relationship with Stacie, that even Fat Amy was keeping her nosy nature in check, and despite the high fives she kept dispensing, Cynthia Rose didn't even need Denise to remind her not to ask questions.

Aubrey would like to believe they were just that respectful and trusted Stacie to know what she was doing, but Aubrey knew exactly how much the Barden Bellas lacked any concept of personal boundaries – which was, after all, how her freshman team captain had managed to get her to admit to being attracted to other girls – and she knew it was only their fear of her that kept them from pushing for information.

And, just as she had predicted, everyone only really started relaxing around her when alcohol was involved, and she watched on with amusement as the game of Never Have I Ever devolved into a drinking game once Beca stopped remembering what a turntable was - and Aubrey wondered if anyone was sober enough to remember to make fun of Beca for calling them "the round things that you fiddle with" – and the way the Bellas pretty much dropped to sleep where they sat in the living room. Thankfully, Stacie had started faking her shots when Aubrey told her to, around the same time the brunette had decided to ignore the fact that they were still around other people and tried to sit on Aubrey's lap, so Stacie still had her wits about her when Chloe face-planted onto the couch and fell asleep.

Some, like Denise and Jessica, just called it a night and trudged off to their respective bedrooms. Ashley left to get a glass of water and never returned. Chloe just let her body drop from a sitting position to lie on the couch. Beca somehow ended up on the same couch Chloe was on, laying down on the opposite end. Flo had arranged throw pillows and a blanket on the floor and fell asleep there, while Cynthia Rose occupied the other couch. Fat Amy declared she had to get her phone charger from her room and never came back, and Lilly had simply disappeared at one point.

Stacie took stock of her fellow Barden Bellas, decided they were out for the night, and wordlessly stood up, taking Aubrey's hand, and led her out of the living room. They took a detour through the entryway, picking up Aubrey's bag, before heading up the stairs to the bedroom Stacie shared with Chloe.

After their individual nighttime rituals, and wordlessly figuring out their sides of the bed, Stacie faced Aubrey, undeniably amused, because the twin bed was easily the smallest bed they had shared since they started sleeping together. She grinned. "So about that hotel room…"

Aubrey laughed lightly. "Didn't think this one through, huh?"

"Shut up." Stacie groaned, before employing her easiest solution and moving closer to Aubrey short of laying on top of her.

"That's one solution." Aubrey mused, once they were reasonably settled, as she wrapped an arm around Stacie's waist

Stacie rested her head on Aubrey's shoulder and smiled at her. "Thank you for putting up with tonight."

"It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought." Aubrey admitted.

"Because there was alcohol."

"Oh, I know _that_." Aubrey quipped. "But it was a lot less violent reaction and invasive questions than I expected."

"Because they're afraid of you." Stacie told her. "They're waiting until you leave before asking me for all the details."

"I bet."

"So you're gonna have to start buying my discretion."

Aubrey laughed. "Not so subtle way of asking for gifts, I take it."

Stacie laughed as well. "Don't think I haven't noticed that I don't have a Valentine's Day present, Aubrey Posen."

"It's in my bag."

Stacie lifted her head to gauge the distance from the bed to said bag, realized one of them would actually have to leave their comfortable position to get it, and sighed, turning back to Aubrey. "Will I like it?"

"Would you like the visual companion book of concept designs for a Dune movie?"

Stacie gasped. "They're making a Dune movie?"

"They _were_. Or they _have_. I don't know. I know you like Dune, but everyone I asked who would know about it just shook their heads and won't even try to explain it, so… book." Aubrey shrugged.

Stacie smiled, and leaned in, meeting Aubrey's lips in a kiss and moving closer as she covered Aubrey's body with her own. After a few minutes, she pulled back and pouted. "Tell me again why we're not doing it right now in a hotel room."

"Because your friends like to speculate and you wanted to prove a point?" Aubrey mused.

Stacie rolled her eyes. "Who needs friends."

Aubrey chuckled, even as she started trailing kisses down Stacie's chin and along her jaw, smiling against Stacie's skin when the brunette tilted her head to allow her better access to her neck. "Eleven."

"Hmm, what?"

"Eleven shots."

It took Stacie a moment before she made the connection to what Aubrey could be talking about. "Do you remember any of those eleven shots?"

"Maybe." Aubrey allowed, concentrating on one part of Stacie's neck.

Stacie smiled mischievously at her. "Tell me."

Aubrey hummed, a little reluctant.

"Fine." Stacie rolled her eyes. "Tell me the most scandalous."

That was easy. "Taken a sex trophy."

"You perv! What did you get?"

"Your towel from the hotel."

"You klepto." But was Stacie inwardly preening that Aubrey had taken a souvenir from their first night together? Definitely. "One more?"

"Hate sex."

Stacie's jaw dropped, and she stared disbelievingly at her girlfriend. "No way."

Aubrey shrugged. "She was hot."

"Wow."

"Yeah."

Stacie gazed speculatively at Aubrey, never wavering, until Aubrey rolled her eyes and nodded slightly. Stacie grinned excitedly. "Can I guess?"

"Sure."

"Been walked in on."

Aubrey paused, and then nodded. " _And_ been walked in on, _with company_."

"Equally the worst."

Aubrey chuckled again, examining her handiwork on Stacie's neck and grinning with pride before looking at Stacie. "That's not how superlatives work."

Stacie laughed. "Tell me more."

"Stace—"

"Please?"

Aubrey sighed in defeat. "Partner fell asleep _during_."

"If I tell you mine-"

"No."

Stacie pouted.

"Said the wrong name."

Stacie's drew back, staring at Aubrey with awe and amusement, once more with her jaw dropped. "No way."

"Oh, yes."

"You?" Stacie asked incredulously. "I mean, I know how that happened to me, I don't know their names for sure most of the time, but _you_?"

"I'm not proud of it." Aubrey said defensively.

Stacie rolled her eyes. "Fine. But I'm surprised you've never had sex while your roommate was asleep."

"It's just rude." And she'd been pissed when she watched Chloe sheepishly take a drink at that statement, avoiding Aubrey's gaze.

"You know, there's a way for you to cross that off your list and take the shot next time _and_ get back at Chloe." Stacie told her coyly.

Aubrey smiled wryly. "I'll live without taking that shot, thanks."

"Offer stands." Stacie shrugged, and grinned down at Aubrey. "I just remembered it's Valentine's Day."

Aubrey lifted an eyebrow in skepticism. "You 'just' remembered?"

"I made you a promise about Valentine's Day." Stacie reminded, her fingers already starting to undo the buttons on Aubrey's pajama top.

Aubrey furrowed her brow, not recalling said promise. She did not, however, stop Stacie's progress.

Stacie leaned in close and took a playful bite on Aubrey's lower lip before soothing it with her tongue, huskily whispering against Aubrey's lips, "I said we'd both get laid on Valentine's Day."


	24. Chapter 24

I feel this needs addressing, so before we continue, I must reiterate that while this comes chronologically before the whole Fallen Leaves saga of Track In On This Feeling and These Hands Are Meant to Hold, this story is best appreciated after you've read everything that had come before in this particular story universe.

Having said that: read. enjoy. review.

.

* * *

She loved drinking with her friends, really, but she had always hated the punishment of hangovers. Especially after four years of living with Aubrey, whose tolerance for alcohol was just mean, Chloe had learned to hate the morning after with a special kind of distaste. _And_ she had woken up on the couch, which not only meant her body hadn't been in the most comfortable of positions, but also that she woke up early because there was only so much going on around her before she conceded that it was time to get up.

The culprit, it seemed, was Flo fixing up her makeshift bed and abandoning it for her bedroom, Cynthia Rose getting up from the couch she had been occupying to head to her room, and someone getting started on breakfast.

At least Ashley looked as miserable as she felt, and they exchanged quick, faint smiles when Chloe went to the fridge to get some water while Ashley stared at the coffeemaker.

Chloe decided more sleep was in order, and begrudgingly made her way towards the stairs, only to cross paths with Jessica, who also looked miserable.

However, Jessica caught her arm before Chloe could progress further up the steps. "You… don't want to go into your room."

Chloe furrowed her brow, confused. "I don't?"

"Yeah, uh…" Jessica hesitated, a faint blush on her cheeks, and she finally admitted, "Aubrey and Stacie are kind of… vocal."

Chloe lifted an eyebrow. "Aubrey and—"

And then she suddenly remembered. _Aubrey_. And _Stacie_. _Aubrey and Stacie_. Aubrey, her best friend, who had graduated from Barden University two years ago and got too busy to pay close attention to the Barden Bellas she had left behind. And then had shown up out of the blue the previous afternoon, dressed like the young professional that she was, and looked as if she had been invited over.

By _Stacie_. Who had taken one look on the blond interloper and laid claim, with a kiss that left no room for doubt, with a kiss that Chloe imagined most people only dreamed about. Because there had been no mistaking the obvious affection and passion that Aubrey and Stacie had for each other, the almost-desperate way they had clung on to each other.

The way they seemed completely unable to separate completely from each other, even when they were an entire room apart, easily finding the other with their gazes. The casual intimacy when they sat together, as if they didn't care who saw them, who witnessed how much they cared for each other.

And apparently they didn't care who heard them, either, and Chloe imagined Jessica and Ashley, who had the room closest to the one she and Stacie shared, had to have gotten an earful.

When Jessica saw Chloe's expression slacken, she went on, "It was bad enough at two AM. Turns out Stacie's not kidding about not having an off switch."

And that was just the kicker, wasn't it? Chloe had often teased Aubrey for her prudishness, how reluctant she always seemed to be when it came to things like sex, and now she was apparently being loud while doing it with Stacie. _Stacie_. Who had made no secret over her sexual exploits, and took pride in her prowess, not to mention described her crotch as 'a hunter'.

And then Jessica's words registered with Chloe, and she stared, dumbfounded, at her friend. "They're doing it right now?"

"Unless there's another reason why Stacie's telling Aubrey to 'never stop', I'm going to go with yes."

"It's six in the morning!"

Jessica shrugged, not having any answers, and when Chloe didn't say anything else, sympathetically patted Chloe's shoulder as she moved past the redhead to join Ashley in the kitchen.

Chloe glanced over in the general direction of her room, and briefly debated on whether or not she would heed Jessica's warning. Ultimately, though, she wanted to lie down on a bed, and decided to go on and take Beca's bed in the third floor loft, since the other girl was still dead to the world on the couch.

As she climbed up the steps to the third floor, however, she still heard a sharp gasp that was quickly cut off, followed by badly-covered giggling, to which she could only shake her head, because everyone knew how sound carried in the house.

But hours later, Chloe started reconsidering her stance of using a grin-and-bear-it approach to the reality of Aubrey and Stacie, because after she had woken up from her nap and joined her friends downstairs, Ashley and Jessica reported that neither Aubrey nor Stacie had come up for air.

Jessica turned to Ashley, as if needing to say out loud, "Aubrey and Stacie. That just…"

Ashley nodded, and gesturing with her hands, mimicked her head exploding.

"Still?" Chloe asked warily.

"But how…? It's been hours!" Beca exclaimed, which earned her looks of pity from almost everyone around her. She frowned in confusion when Amy rubbed her shoulder sympathetically. "What?"

"I hope you invested in Febreze," Cynthia Rose told Chloe, who could only frown in response.

Beca looked confused for another minute longer, but eventually conceded to her lack of information, turning to Chloe. "What's next on your Galentine's agenda?"

"It's Saturday. We have rehearsals." Chloe reminded, ignoring the collective groan of everyone around her.

"I don't think Stacie's vocal cords are going to agree with that." Denise told her.

Chloe rolled her eyes. "We can just do run-throughs of our sets, so we can get invited to the Puppy Bowl again."

Amy turned to Beca, who could only shake her head. They had sung the National Anthem at the Puppy Bowl the previous year, but since the event came too close to Regionals this year, they'd had to forgo the event. They were all pretty sure it had been a close call of Chloe forfeiting Regionals over giving up the Puppy Bowl, and it was still a delicate subject.

"Why can we not just hang out here?" Flo asked.

Before anyone could answer, Stacie walked into the kitchen, humming to herself, and attracting her friends' collective attention as she walked straight to the refrigerator and took out a bottle of water. Pressing it to the side of her neck, she glanced over the contents of their fridge before claiming another bottle, closing the refrigerator behind her, and picked up an apple on her way back out of the room, but not before smiling brightly at her friends and greeting them a good morning as she left.

There was a collective silence as the girls stared after her, before Amy turned to back to the rest of her friends. "So we all saw the massive…" she indicated to her neck, at roughly the same spot where Stacie had been sporting a telltale bruise.

"I'm more concerned about her back and shoulders." Jessica admitted, because for reasons unknown, Stacie chose to wear a tank top, which displayed the marks where fingernails had obviously raked against her skin.

Beca frowned. "Stacie's careful, she wouldn't let someone hurt her during sex."

Again, the group all turned to her with looks ranging in a mix of confusion and pity. This time, it was Lilly who pat Beca's arm gently.

Beca frowned at her. "What?"

Lilly made a small shushing sound, and made small soothing gestures on Beca's arm.

Beca gave her a confused look, before turning back to the rest of her friends.

"Who knew Aubrey had that in her, though?" Ashley mused.

Chloe looked discomfited, because nothing in her history with Aubrey indicated an ability to let loose, and certainly not when it came to sex. It was partly why their senior year had been contentious between them, because between Aubrey's obsession about making it back to the finals of the ICCAs, Chloe's growing reluctance and hesitation to leave college, _and_ their increasing distance when it came to how they wanted to deal with the new Bellas in their midst, there had also been the matter of their individual crushes on two Bellas in particular. Chloe had made no secret of her admiration for Beca – except maybe to Beca – and was caught in the middle trying to mediate between her crush and her best friend, who could not even begin to try and get along for the sake of the Bellas. And Aubrey, who had her senior year and beyond all planned out to the point of stress-vomiting, could only sit by and gaze from afar as Stacie made her way through a good fraction of the Barden University student population, because there was no place in her plans for the girl she wouldn't even begin to know how to keep.

It was why Aubrey stayed away from meddling with Chloe's crush on Beca, despite how obvious it was, and why Chloe correspondingly let Aubrey wallow in the misery of her unrequited affection, because they both knew that doing anything about their respective crushes would not only ruin the dynamics of the Barden Bellas, but probably hurt either freshman in the long run, as well.

But somehow, somewhere in the past year when Aubrey had all but disappeared from their lives, Aubrey got her shit together enough to finally let Stacie in, and found within herself the person she had always wanted to be, someone who could love someone else so simply and honestly, and she had become that person for Stacie.

And Chloe had missed it.

And Chloe was still in the exact same place Aubrey had left her, pining for Beca, still the best friend whose honest affection was misunderstood as that of a best friend to another, whose attempts at flirting with an oblivious significant other were mistaken for innuendo.

Because in the bright light of day, everything seemed a little clearer – or maybe she was looking a little closer now – and she saw the small signs that whatever was going on between Aubrey and Stacie, it went a little further than Stacie's attempts to dissuade the inquisition by saying things weren't serious, because there seemed to be an almost constant communication between the two of them, whether by look or by touch or with actual words, and their natural inclination was always to move closer to the other.

And as someone who had witnessed Aubrey go through a series of relationships both serious and not-very throughout college, it was startling to see her with Stacie, because Chloe had seen Aubrey with her boyfriends, and she had always kept them at a respectful distance: maybe not physically, but there was always an invisible line she never let them dare to cross.

There was no line with Stacie. There was no need for distance, no need for Aubrey to maintain her individuality, no built-in protection for Aubrey to prevent herself from losing herself in the relationship.

They made no qualms about their displays of affection, for one thing, and not just as a method for Aubrey to get out of doing something she didn't want to, or as a distraction for Stacie. In fact, now that Chloe was stone-cold sober, she could tell that for all the displays of deep kisses and heavy petting, it was actually in the quiet moments, when they were just sitting together, Aubrey reading from her computer tablet and Stacie going through a text book beside her, that their relationship was most obvious.

It was in the way Stacie curled up against Aubrey's side, and the way Aubrey seemed to constantly need to have some kind of physical contact with Stacie.

When there was an agreement to run through their prepared songs to satisfy Chloe's demand for rehearsal time, Stacie forced Aubrey to sit through it, and despite everyone on the lookout for Aubrey's critique, the girl kept her gaze on her tablet, and only expressed her displeasure in minute expressions, or the rare grit of teeth, as if physically preventing herself from verbalizing anything. Sure, she hadn't made a swiping gesture on whatever she was supposed to be reading for a good ten to fifteen minutes, but she wasn't making any criticisms.

At the end, they all looked expectantly at Aubrey, who was looking a little too hard at her tablet, carefully avoiding everyone's gaze.

Beca was the first one to cave. "So? What do you think?"

Aubrey shrugged, but to Stacie and Chloe, who knew her pretty well, they could tell from the way she sat firmly in place, and the way her hand held tightly to the corner of her tablet, that the blonde was holding back.

"Just say it." Chloe said tiredly.

Looking up, Aubrey bit her lip, and glanced briefly at Stacie, who shrugged. Finally, she sighed, and pointed. "Lilly is a beat too fast, Ashley's playing catch-up with her breathing, Denise is two beats slow, I don't know what key Flo is singing in, and Cynthia Rose, I did it, stop looking at Stacie's neck."

Jessica and Stacie both pumped their fists in subtle celebration at not being part of the critique, but Fat Amy raised both arms in victory.

"And I know you have a beatboxer, but you still need the percussion sound." Aubrey turned to Beca. "Otherwise? Just a step away from being fine."

"Okay! Take a break, everyone." Chloe announced, and before Aubrey could call out to her, disappeared up the stairs.

Beca immediately sat down beside Aubrey on the couch. "Ignore her. She's been weird since I helped Jesse with the Trebles' set."

Aubrey held up a hand, stalling her, and turned to Stacie, who sat on the arm rest of the couch on her other side. "You still have the building blocks to victory?"

"That weird flowchart you and Chloe showed us? Yeah."

"Does it still say 'No Trebles'?"

"I don't know, probably." Stacie shrugged.

Aubrey turned back to Beca. "Which part of 'No Trebles' don't you understand, Beca?"

Beca rolled her eyes. "The part where their co-captain is the same guy who got us into the finals on a technicality."

Aubrey paused, considering that point, and then sighed. "Carry on."

"I mean, I get it, if it were anyone else but Jesse asking, I wouldn't. And yeah, I helped them, but it's not like I'm helping them do breakdowns and stuff." Beca explained.

Aubrey paused again, and frowned. She nudged Stacie beside her, and when Stacie turned towards her, asked, "Is Beca asking me for relationship advice?"

Stacie glanced at Beca, who looked positively ill when she realized the same thing Aubrey did. "It sounds like it."

"I thought so." Aubrey returned her attention to Beca. "Draw a line."

Beca frowned. "What?"

"Draw a line." Aubrey repeated. "He's your boyfriend, so of course he has every right to ask you for help. But he's still your competition. Check yourself: how much help are you willing to give him, that you can honestly not feel like you gave him _too much_ help if – but I doubt it - the Trebles win? And that's where you draw the line."

Beca glanced over at Stacie.

"If you gave him their set for finals and they won over us, would you be okay, knowing that you directly helped them beat us?" Stacie asked.

Beca considered that advice for a moment, and then glanced back up at the two. She motioned to the both of them. "I don't even know how this happened or that it was even happening, but now that it's here, I can't believe I didn't see it before."

Stacie laughed. "I'll take that as a compliment."

"Yeah, no, really." Beca shook her head. "It's like, when you think about it, it was kinda obvious, wasn't it? You were like the only person she could stand, and at a party you'd ditch whoever was trying to pick you up to talk to her."

Stacie paused, and looked at Beca thoughtfully. "You noticed that?"

"Like I said," Beca reminded. "It was obvious."

At that, both Aubrey and Stacie gazed at Beca pensively, as if they were considering if she were a natural wonder of the world. Or a very, very slow, very dim-witted child.

"But, you know, how did this even happen?" Beca asked, when neither girl said anything for a while.

Stacie glanced at Aubrey, who shrugged in return. "Plans change. Things worked out. Aubrey got her head out of her ass and I wanted to see us try to make a relationship work."

Aubrey paused, and glanced over at Stacie. "You're the mature one who wanted a relationship and I had my head up my ass?"

Stacie smiled winningly at her. "I love you."

Aubrey rolled her eyes in good-natured feigned exasperation.

Stacie glanced over at Beca. "Look away."

"What?"

Stacie reached over, covering Beca's eyes, as she used her other hand to cup Aubrey's cheek with her hand and leaned in close, meeting Aubrey's lips in a kiss that she immediately deepened, making Aubrey set aside her tablet to pull her closer and making Stacie fall off her perch on the arm rest to settle on Aubrey's lap.

Which, unfortunately for Beca, gave her an eyeful of the display. "Okay, yeah, I'm just gonna go."

She went blissfully ignored, and after a while, Beca gave up on trying to get any attention back, and actually stood up and left.

Not long after, Stacie broke the kiss, and glanced around them.

Aubrey smiled, knowing what Stacie was checking for. "Is she gone?"

"Okay, you're right, making out _does_ make them stop asking questions," Stacie conceded. "But that won't work with Cynthia Rose, Flo, or Fat Amy."

"Making out will keep us from having to answer questions," Aubrey pointed out.

Stacie paused, and grinned wickedly when she realized the truth of Aubrey's words. "I like how you think."


	25. Chapter 25

There were, Stacie readily admitted, a few things (a lot of things) that being in a long-distance relationship left to be desired. She didn't see Aubrey as often as she wanted, or she couldn't just drop by and give or receive a hug if either of them needed it. And since the other half of her long-distance relationship was _Aubrey_ , that meant there were a lot of things Aubrey didn't readily tell her until Aubrey was ready.

But the upside of dating Aubrey was that the other girl had a romantic streak that went along with her competitive streak, and that meant given half a reason, Aubrey was willing to go the distance in proving her place in the relationship.

On Sunday morning, that meant crepes.

Stacie didn't know how Aubrey figured out where the ingredients or utensils were, or how the stove worked - or even where Aubrey found fruits beyond apples, because that sure as hell wasn't in the Bellas' kitchen - but she'd been woken by the blonde and pulled towards the kitchen for breakfast, and Stacie couldn't even bring herself to complain about the fact that she had been forced out of bed before ten on Sunday morning.

She also couldn't bring herself to care about the fact that Aubrey went from mild incredulity to fond amusement as she kept handing Aubrey her plate for new crepe combinations.

"I'm sorry, Nutella and _mango_?" Aubrey asked, echoing the latest request, finally unable to keep her bewilderment at bay, Stacie's plate in hand.

"What?" Stacie questioned. "I like Nutella. I like mango. Why can't I like them together?"

"No, of course, of course you can." Aubrey said quickly. "I just…" She shook her head, and proceeded to create the crepe as requested.

Stacie watched her, wondering if she'll ever get over the sight of her former Bellas captain making her breakfast, because she had witnessed this very sight every day the week between Christmas and New Year's, and it still made her giddy to realize the girl making that much effort to make her happy was _Aubrey_ , and that Aubrey was her girlfriend.

And those thoughts usually led back to their conversation months ago, when Aubrey admitted to her apprehension of starting a relationship, looking at her history and telling Stacie she was afraid of history repeating itself, that she could screw up so thoroughly she feared she could get Stacie to swear off relationships indefinitely.

"I love you, have I told you that today?"

"Just once so far." Aubrey smiled at her. "And I think you were talking to the crepe when you said that, so…"

Stacie threw a balled-up paper napkin at her, which missed Aubrey by a good few inches. "Jerk."

"No littering." Aubrey told her, making Stacie stick her tongue out at her. When Stacie went to pick up the napkin and put it in the trash, Aubrey chuckled softly. "I love you too, Stacie."

Stacie approached her at the stove, and they shared a few quick kisses while the batter cooked. "Stay an extra night."

Aubrey made a soft sound of complaint. "I can't."

"I can make it worth your while." Stacie promised.

"I have a meeting on Tuesday morning." Aubrey informed her, forcing herself to move her attention away from her girlfriend and to the… overcooked crepe. Muttering under her breath, she removed it from the pan, and poured a fresh layer of batter on the pan. "Red flags and bells and whistles, so it's clearly a big deal."

Stacie pouted, returning to her chair. "Have they told you anything about England yet?"

Aubrey shot her a curious glance. "Is it that obvious?"

"Red flag meeting? And I know you know about my weakness for crepes, so either this is celebratory crepes, or this is brace-yourself-for-bad-news crepes." Stacie pointed out.

Well, Aubrey figured she _was_ dating someone who was almost a certified genius. She finished preparing the crepe, and handed it to Stacie. She turned off the stove, covered the uncooked batter with a clear sheet and placed it in the fridge, before returning to the kitchen island where Stacie was eating to take the other seat by the counter. "I got promoted."

"That's—" Stacie stopped herself when she saw Aubrey's expression. "No? Not good?"

Aubrey sighed. "Good for my career. Not good for us."

Stacie frowned, wondering why that would be, and took a guess. "No more trips to the Southeastern United States?"

"Fewer." Aubrey corrected. "And less opportunity to keep my work travel concentrated on just one corner of the country."

Stacie pouted. "But we don't have to sneak around anymore."

"I know."

Stacie furrowed her brow, trying to puzzle out why Aubrey hadn't told her sooner, and asked, "How long have you known about this?"

"My boss said it was the natural progression of my job, but the official email came through last night." Aubrey informed her, picking up her cup of coffee and taking a sip, letting Stacie take her time in absorbing the news.

"That sucks."

"I know."

Stacie glanced at her. "But not England?"

Aubrey smiled faintly. "I might still have to take a trip or two, but I'll still primarily be focused on this side of the Atlantic."

"Guess I can't complain, can I?" Stacie mused, and mirrored Aubrey's weak smile. "Good thing you got me plane tickets for Christmas."

Aubrey regarded her thoughtfully. "You're taking this surprisingly well."

Stacie smiled and shrugged, taking a bite of her crepe and chewing thoughtfully. "What can I do? I'm a multimillion patent away from making you a kept woman, and as much as I like having you around all the time, I know you have a job and career that you need to attend to, and being co-dependent just isn't the best thing for either of us right now." She paused, swallowing, and added, "Or ever."

Aubrey leaned forward, and captured Stacie's lips with her own, refusing to allow herself to go another second without kissing her girlfriend, finding words inadequate to convey just how much, exactly, she appreciated the younger woman for loving her the way she did. She had always admired how easy it was for Stacie to like and appreciate other people; and if she were someone who believed in reincarnation, she was glad her past self had done something so right that she had someone like Stacie in her life now.

She had been dreading the announcement of her promotion since she first heard about it; the momentary relief that it wasn't an assignment to England or some far-flung office in another country quickly disappearing as she had been told more details about her new position. It was more office-based, and the job was primarily coordinating with the rest of the company to ensure projects were being carried out according to the implementation process outlined by the Oversight Committee. It meant less time traveling to different sites checking on their processes and troubleshooting any glitches in the internal clockwork that was the multinational corporation, and less travel meant less opportunity for her and Stacie to spend time together.

Yes, technology was their relationship's best friend, but she can't exactly kiss or hug or make love to her phone, despite what her coworkers liked to joke. (She and her coworkers were all attached to their phones, but there were still some lines left uncrossed.)

Stacie, for her part, immediately parted her lips as she pulled Aubrey closer, forcing the other girl to stand, leaving her seat and moving closer to cover the distance between them.

A slight change of angle, and Stacie slid off her chair, and kicked it aside, pushing Aubrey against the kitchen island as the kiss grew more intense, as if their impending separation was the imperative to breach whatever agreement they had previously come to about sex in public spaces of the Barden Bellas' house.

"Oh my—What the fuck, you two?" Beca exclaimed, forcing the two to separate, a little embarrassed, because they both knew they very easily could have gotten carried away. Beca threw them both a dark look as she went to the coffee maker and poured some coffee. "People eat in here."

"Sorry," Stacie apologized. "We didn't think anyone was awake yet."

Beca waved off the apology, because everyone had stayed up late having a Harry Potter movie marathon, and Beca herself would still be sleeping, too, if she didn't have a reason to be up. "I promised my dad I'll have brunch with them today."

Stacie winced. "Sorry."

Aubrey glanced at Stacie, and then back towards Beca, confused. "I thought you and your dad were getting along."

"Stepmom." Beca said, as a means of explanation.

Aubrey tilted her head towards the pile of cooked, but unrolled crepes. "Have some breakfast."

Beca furrowed her brow, and gave her a confused look. "I'm meeting my dad for brunch."

"Yeah, but if you've eaten, you can take as long as you want in eating what's on your plate to prevent yourself from having to contribute to the conversation, and if it takes a turn for the worse, you can tell them the light breakfast you had isn't agreeing with your stomach and you can leave." Aubrey advised.

Beca stared at her for a long moment, before she blinked and glanced over at Stacie. "Who is this, and why do I like her more than the girl who used to make us do cardio?"

Stacie only smiled, and pulled her chair back up to the island, sitting back down.

"Oh, and you might want to dilute your coffee." Aubrey noted, picking up her own cup.

Beca gave her a look, and drank from her cup, almost immediately gagging at the taste. "What the— That's disgusting."

"Aubrey drinks hers as rocket fuel." Stacie explained, getting Beca a glass of water and handing it to her. "She did try to warn you."

Beca shot Aubrey a disconcerted look, but figured it was too early for that discussion, walked over to the stove, and picked up a plate and started putting together her breakfast. "Where'd we get fruits?"

"Aubrey got them." Stacie answered.

Beca glanced over at Aubrey, who was eating from a bowl of fruit. "How long are you staying?"

"My flight's on Monday afternoon." Aubrey answered.

Beca nodded, looking down at the crepe she was assembling.

Stacie turned to Aubrey, pouting. "I thought you were leaving Monday night."

"I know, but that was before my presence at the Tuesday meeting became a thing, and before this weekend I could wing it, but that's not an option anymore." Aubrey admitted. "I have things to read and we both know I'd rather hang out with you doing anything else other than my homework."

"What happened this weekend?" Beca asked curiously.

Aubrey and Stacie glanced at her.

"…Or that was a private conversation." Beca suddenly realized. "Sorry. Forget I said anything."

"No, it's fine." Aubrey glanced at Stacie, and back at Beca. "I got an email last night telling me that my job description went from being sent to local offices to mostly staying at the head office."

Beca glanced at Stacie, even as she asked Aubrey, "Meaning what?"

"Meaning I have to know what's going on from reports and proposals, instead of being sent to the site to see things for myself." Aubrey explained. "It means I'm going to see Stacie less than I already do."

"Oh." Beca glanced at them. "But you'll be okay, right?"

Stacie sighed, even as Aubrey smiled faintly. "We hope so."

"We better be." Stacie grumbled.

Beca frowned, recalling other details of the conversation between the couple. "Aubrey, why do you have homework?"

"Aubrey has to read a pile of stuff, since she gets copied in everything. She's hot stuff at the office." Stacie explained, ignoring the look of exasperation Aubrey shot her even as she smiled brightly at her girlfriend. With a level of pride, she declared, "She's kind of a boss."

Beca chuckled, shaking her head in amusement. "Figures you'd bang the-" and then she nearly dropped her plate, her fingers going numb as she realized what she'd been about to say. She looked up sharply, eyes wide. In what can only be described as growing horror, Beca uttered: "No."

Aubrey shared a confused look with Stacie, before shooting a concerned look towards Beca. "Beca?"

Beca placed her plate on the counter, and then set her palms flat on the countertop, bending her head as if the mere act of holding it up was a burden she was not equipped to bear.

"Beca-?" Stacie asked hesitantly, unsure of what was going on with her friend.

Beca looked up sharply, and looked at them both, pointing from one to the other, unsure of just where to start making accusations. "You!"

Aubrey and Stacie glanced at each other again.

"You've been together since summer?" Beca hissed.

"No," Stacie said vehemently, as Aubrey shook her head, "Not exactly…"

Beca pointed at Stacie, getting her attention, before she pointed at Aubrey. "Aubrey's the coworker you were sleeping with last summer?"

Aubrey glanced at Stacie, who rolled her eyes, evidently understanding the conversation Aubrey was utterly flabbergasted by. "Beca knew? When did you tell Beca?"

"I didn't _tell_ Beca." Stacie shook her head. "She's not _completely_ clueless, that's all."

"Did you tell her not to tell me?" Beca demanded towards Aubrey.

"There was nothing to tell!" Aubrey answered defensively.

"You _were_ banging your boss!" Beca practically shrieked at Stacie.

"I'm not her boss." Aubrey corrected.

"It's a totally different corporate hierarchy." Stacie added.

"Seriously?" Beca asked incredulously, in disbelief that the two of them were going to argue the technicalities of how Aubrey hadn't been Stacie's boss.

"It was a summer fling," Stacie told Beca. She paused, and then shook her head again. "Well, not a 'fling', exactly, but we weren't entirely sure if it was going to go anywhere—"

Beca gestured wildly at Aubrey, " _Aubrey_?!"

"Hey!" Both Aubrey and Stacie exclaimed in protest.

"You didn't think it was relevant to share _that_ bit of information?" Beca whisper-yelled.

"And say what?" Stacie retorted. "That we were sleeping together, but we weren't ready for a serious relationship? That she wasn't ready to face the Bellas again, and that I respected that?" She sighed, and her voice lost a lot of its confrontational tone. "Or that I wanted to let her just be _mine_ , for a little while, so we can screw up, like we knew we would, the way only we can, before we told our friends?"

Aubrey turned to her, concerned, and stepped closer, placing her hand against Stacie's back as a gesture of reassurance.

Beca frowned, watching them. "Why did it take you so long to tell us?"

"Because there was nothing to tell." Stacie insisted softly. "We didn't know how far we were willing to go, how far it _could_ go. When we were sneaking around, we were just having fun. I didn't want to have to explain that." She glanced at Aubrey as they exchange weak smiles, because their relationship was a mess, but it was theirs. "I wanted her, and I didn't want anyone asking me why, or to tell me why I shouldn't."

Which pretty much killed every other question Beca still had, because anything else she had to ask was centered around the question of _why_. Why they didn't tell anyone they hooked up over the summer. Why they felt they had to sneak around. Why they both felt they had to break the news the way they had, and not introduce the idea slowly over time.

Beca glanced at Aubrey, eyeing her warily because history had shown that Aubrey pretty easily dropped out of people's lives. As Stacie's friend and Bella captain, Beca felt like she had to do what she could to protect Stacie, even though she probably didn't need it, and to ascertain Aubrey's intentions. "And after all of that, this is different now?"

"It was different from the beginning," Aubrey corrected. "We're just better at defining it now."

Beca rolled her eyes, but partly in need of averting her gaze, because there was an intimacy to the way Aubrey and Stacie were looking at each other that made her feel like she was intruding on a private moment.

And she probably was.

Beca frowned suddenly, and looked up at Aubrey, who leaned close against Stacie, the two of them having a softly-spoken conversation. "Wait."

The couple glanced over at her.

Beca crossed her arms, and gave Aubrey a grave look. "Why didn't you tell Chloe?"

"Beca…"

"I mean, I get it, Stacie knew we'd be a little judgmental and a lot skeptical about her dating you," Beca admitted. "And I get it, you don't owe the rest of us an explanation - or a phone call to catch up before randomly showing up, I guess - but why didn't you tell Chloe?"

"Beca, stop." Stacie warned.

"She's your best friend!" Beca exclaimed, not heeding Stacie's warning. "She deserved to know! She didn't deserve to be blindsided, like the rest of us, _by her best friend_ , by _you_ showing up after months of _nothing_ and making out with someone like you're redefining what qualifies as fit for the public, and refusing to even explain what's happening. I mean, I get it, you got out of college, I'd be hightailing it out of Georgia too, once I graduate. But Chloe deserves better than a phone call once every… God, I don't even know when you two last talked to each other." Beca shook her head. "Chloe deserves better. And you know it. She deserves better than to be caught by surprise by something like this. And maybe we don't deserve it like she does? Maybe Stacie didn't feel like there was anything to tell? But you should have made Stacie tell us, too."

Aubrey, to her credit, having expected a variation of the confrontation at one point with any of the Barden Bellas, only took hold of Stacie's hand to keep her from escalating the argument, and sighed, in both exasperation and defeat. "You weren't told everything right away because Stacie and I wanted to break the news slowly but you, and the rest of the Bellas, didn't give her that opportunity."

Beca stopped, her righteous indignation losing all its fury, because Aubrey had a point, and she had to concede that for all their shock and disbelief, the Bellas really had forced Stacie's hand. She knew from the way Denise and Cynthia-Rose had readily accepted the couple that they had had some kind of idea, or at least an inkling, about Stacie's relationship, and Stacie _had_ tried to dissuade everyone from making them meet the person she had been dating in the way Chloe had wanted them to.

"And in case you haven't noticed, _Beca_ , Chloe hasn't exactly been the most forthcoming about things in her life lately, either." Aubrey went on, now on the offensive, having seen the way Beca paused at the realization that things were a mess, and it was a mess that everyone had contributed to. "And I'd like to think wanting to keep a relationship private for a little while is nothing compared to your best friend deciding to repeat a whole year _again_ without telling you."

Beca lowered her gaze, feeling the impact of the accusation because even though she knew that on the surface, Aubrey was talking about her relationship with Chloe, Chloe hadn't exactly told Beca about failing Russian Lit for the second straight year, either.

"We all have our secrets, Beca." Aubrey said quietly. "You don't get to make accusations when you don't know _half_ of what's happening."

"Aubrey." Stacie said softly, a gentle warning urging her to stop.

Aubrey glanced at her, and nodded when she saw the look on Stacie's face. "I'm gonna go shower."

"I'll join you in a bit." Stacie told her, earning herself a wry look which she answered with a smile. She kissed Aubrey briefly, and let the older girl leave the room, leaving Stacie alone with Beca.

"Gross." Beca told her, an attempt at lightening the mood.

"Don't." Stacie cut her off, unwilling just yet to let Beca off the hook for the morning's turn of events. She took a moment, trying to figure out what she wanted to say, and ultimately decided she could only be honest. "She didn't have to come, you know."

Beca frowned.

"She had tickets, reservations. We had plans for this weekend, did you know that? She has work she could be doing, but she's here. She's here, because I asked her, because she knows I wanted her to, because everyone thought they had a right to know the details about _my_ relationship." Stacie said quietly. "And everyone's avoiding her, Chloe won't talk to her, and you just reminded her why she didn't want to do this in the first place."

"Stacie—"

"Beca, yesterday - _yesterday_ \- we thought you were on our side. You were treating her like she was one of us again, and you know how much the Bellas mean to her, and now you basically told her that she's not?" Stacie pressed, a tinge of desperation lining her voice. "And you were there the last time she and Chloe were on the outs, you had a front-row seat to that mess; but you just had to remind her, didn't you? And in case you missed it? Chloe doesn't tell us everything, either, and we see her every day." Stacie sighed, suddenly drained. "They've got their own mess going on, Beca, and as much as we might want to help, they have three years' worth of complications we don't know about, and they don't need us to be barging in on."

Beca looked down, appropriately chastened. "Sorry."

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to." Stacie reminded. "But either you treat Aubrey like one of us, or you respect her at a distance as my girlfriend. Don't talk to her that way again."


	26. Chapter 26

"Aubrey?"

"Hmm?" Aubrey murmured, her head tucked against the crux where Stacie's shoulder met her neck, occasionally pressing her lips on Stacie's pulse point, or taking playful bites against her skin before soothing it with her tongue, an idle seduction that Stacie knew Aubrey had no intentions on pushing far.

Stacie was perfectly content with their current positions, lying together on her bed with Aubrey curled up next to her while Stacie idly ran her fingers through Aubrey's hair, happily ignoring what else was happening within the house after their confrontation with Beca earlier; however she still felt compelled to ask, "A full day ahead of us. What do you want to do?"

Stacie felt, more than saw, the small smile that pulled on Aubrey's lips, ignoring the pleasant chill that ran through her body when Aubrey's amusement expressed itself in a small laugh, her breath warm against her neck made sensitive by Aubrey's attention, and the wry question of: "I don't know, Stacie, what do _you_ want to do?"

Stacie smiled in return, knowing fully well that neither she nor Aubrey had much experience in the awkwardness of high school relationships: Aubrey had been practically betrothed from an early age to the boy who became her boyfriend in high school, gone through the motions of what was expected of them, until they had gone off to separate colleges and quickly realized they weren't actually very well suited for each other, definitely not in the long run; and that was even before Aubrey realized she was attracted to women. And Stacie… well, Stacie hadn't exactly bothered with awkward encounters, much less actual relationships. Still, she played along. "We could watch a movie, or something, I don't know."

Aubrey laughed. "We could put on a movie and not watch it."

Stacie laughed along. "That definitely has my vote."

Their amusement faded somewhat when Aubrey noted, "Your housemates would disagree."

Stacie rolled her eyes. She could already foresee the endless teasing she would be getting from the Bellas once Aubrey left… if they ever got over the part where Stacie was dating Aubrey Posen. "Well, what else are we expected to do if they're going to be weird about having you around?"

"I hate to say it…"

"You love saying it." Stacie corrected.

"But I told you so."

Stacie groaned in exasperation. "You know, when I asked you out for President's Day I just really wanted us to get laid."

Aubrey leaned back slightly, causing Stacie to turn to face her questioningly. "As much as that's a directive I would love for us to pursue, I think we need to start convincing them we do more than just have sex."

Stacie looked at her blankly.

Aubrey paused, and conceded, "Okay, point. But we hang out sometimes, too."

"And then we have sex."

"Well, when the sex is awesome, who are we to stop it?" Aubrey retorted. She sighed, because she knew the thread of conversation was going to end in the likeliest of places. "We need to get out of here."

They had been saying the same thing on and off throughout the morning, but since they haven't seen Chloe, they weren't sure if they were allowed to do that. It was a sentiment shared by some of the other Bellas. Stacie confessed, "Seriously, I'm beginning to understand The Shining now."

"You're in Georgia."

"Cabin fever doesn't care about climate, Aubrey." Stacie pointed out petulantly.

"She let Beca meet her dad." Aubrey observed.

"Babe, I know you've been gone a bit, but we both know that just because Beca was allowed to meet her dad doesn't mean we all get to go out." Stacie reminded, and let out an exaggerated sigh. "We'll have to ask Red."

"Which will be a problem, because Chloe is avoiding me like the plague." Aubrey remarked.

And Chloe really was. Chloe had been inebriated on Friday night, and undoubtedly had missed having Aubrey around, and had her reaction was a dichotomy of her desire to spend time with Aubrey and avoiding her from questions she didn't like to be asked. The next day had started her avoidance campaign, but it was easy to dismiss that as Chloe still being awkward and possibly hungover. It was a lot harder to ignore the avoidance when Chloe had opted to stay in Ashley and Jessica's room the previous night, despite the fact that Aubrey and Stacie were the last ones to head upstairs after their Harry Potter marathon.

Stacie smiled sympathetically. "I'm sorry she's being a dick."

"I'm sorry you'll have to live with her for the rest of the school year." Aubrey returned.

They were interrupted by the door to the room swinging open, and Chloe stopped short when she saw there were still other people in the room. "Oh! I… Flo said you were going out."

"It's still Galentine's Weekend." Stacie reminded, noticing how Aubrey had almost immediately turned away from Chloe. "We weren't sure if we're allowed to leave the house."

Chloe exhaled loudly. "I guess. We've ran out of alcohol and Denise has a study group meeting."

"Awes." Stacie tapped Aubrey to indicate they could get up, and Aubrey quickly acquiesced.

Chloe watched them get ready, and maybe as an olive branch to Aubrey, or Stacie, or maybe both, asked, "Where are you going?"

Stacie glanced at Aubrey inquisitively.

Aubrey looked back at her, and then turned to Chloe. "I'm going to take Stacie out on a date."

Stacie's eyes widened, and she felt her lips pull into a broad smile. "Really?"

Aubrey finished putting on her boots, and quickly gathered her purse, her coat, and her phone. "Yes, really."

"I thought, and I'm quoting here, that Barden's a black hole during winter." Stacie reminded.

Aubrey gazed at her with a measured look. "Are you seriously doubting my ability to give you a decent date?"

"Given the short notice, it's winter, and it's a Sunday?" Stacie remarked flatly, even though inwardly she was both excited and curious as to what Aubrey could come up with.

Aubrey rolled her eyes, and pulled on a pair of gloves. "Let's go, skeptic."

"Aubrey." Stacie grabbed her hand and pulled Aubrey back towards her, pulling her into a kiss, just a simple brush of their lips, as if in apology for her attitude, because she knew she tread a thin line between teasing and annoying Aubrey. When they parted, she met Aubrey's gaze, which had softened some. "You know we could grab coffee and sit for hours and it'll still be a great date, right?"

Aubrey smiled softly at her. "It's not movie-burger-backseat, don't worry."

Stacie laughed, and led them out of the door. "You don't have a car here."

"I can fix that." Aubrey told her.

"I have a bed."

Aubrey laughed as they left the room and descended the stairs.

Leaving behind Chloe, who realized belatedly that for all her reservations about having Aubrey around, and whatever her concerns were about what Aubrey's opinions were on some of her recent (and not-so-recent) choices, she couldn't deny she'd never seen either Aubrey or Stacie so happy. She also knew she was probably alienating two of her best friends because she didn't know how to handle a conversation with the girl who knew her best.

For her part, Stacie felt bad about leaving the Bellas to continue Galentine's without her, but she wasn't about to give up a day with Aubrey when Aubrey already had doubts of when she would next get to visit. "So where are we going?"

"Lunch, obviously. Free choice."

Stacie shrugged. "Pizza?"

"You have that all the time." Aubrey reminded. She stopped walking to glance around them to take into consideration where they were in campus. "There's a Greek and Mediterranean diner near here, or a wrap and sandwich bar I used to go to near that same area. If you're willing to walk across campus, there's a small Italian place that has the best herb bread. Everything else is out of the away and we're a little behind schedule."

"Let's try the Greek." Stacie suggested. She paused, and then asked, "We just got permission to go out. How are we behind schedule?"

Aubrey gave her a wry look. "Look at who you're with."

Stacie laughed, and hooked her arm with Aubrey's as Aubrey turned them to walk towards the direction of the diner. "I've never even heard of this Greek place."

"Yeah, Chloe didn't like it much when we tried it as freshmen. You'll find she's very dedicated to the American palate." Aubrey admitted.

"So how come you like it?" Stacie asked.

Aubrey shrugged. "Gave it a second chance."

Because it was a Sunday, and one before a holiday, there weren't a lot of people around campus. They walked together at a leisurely pace, occasionally interrupted either by Aubrey's phone or an anecdote they were inclined to share.

Stacie, whose classes were all in the Science building near the center of campus, didn't even recognize some of the structures around them. She took a particular interest in a four-storey building with a set of picnic tables around it. "What's that?"

To her surprise, Aubrey laughed. "You've never been to the Poisoner Line?"

Stacie gave her a blank look.

Aubrey affected a terrible French accent. "Because you Americans, you butcher the French language."

"The _Poissoinnier_ line?" Stacie questioned. "Like for fish?"

Aubrey rolled her eyes. "I guess. Nobody knows exactly why it's called that." She grinned. "Anyway. _That_ , is the key to saving up your meal allowance."

Stacie glanced at her questioningly.

"That's the kitchen laboratory. Half part food lab, half part home economics. That's where they teach Culinary Arts and stuff." Aubrey explained.

"And it saves my meal allowance, how?"

"If you're feeling brave, food lab tests the hows and whys of cooking food, figuring out what flavors should and shouldn't go together." Aubrey continued. "The rest of the time, they're just cooking stuff, and the kitchen is open to everyone to eat and judge what they've created for the day. It's a lot like a Top Chef picnic during those days. But if you come in during a six-course meal, you'll need to stay through the whole thing."

"And you just go in?"

"There'll be a sign, whether or not they'll be serving stuff." Aubrey answered. "Just be warned that there's no rhyme or reason for what they'll be serving." Aubrey shrugged. She pointed at another small building, old and dilapidated, to their left. "That's the old Arts building. It's condemned and has been scheduled for demolition forever. And it's mainly being used by the High Notes as their headquarters. Thereby making it useless, basically defining their very existence as an a cappella group."

Stacie regarded her thoughtfully, and mused: "Still bitter that girl interrupted you during Riff-offs?"

Aubrey harrumphed. "We should have won that."

Stacie laughed, and quickly wrapped an arm around Aubrey's shoulders to give her a one-armed hug. "Aww, baby, I know."

Hours later, after lunch and a stop at the school library, Aubrey led Stacie to a different part of campus, away from the main thoroughfare, through an old driveway that was no longer being used; as Aubrey explained it, the property beyond the gate that the driveway led to had been bought out by a private entity, including the very road that led to the gate.

As Aubrey led them up a flight of stairs that appeared off the side of the driveway, Stacie considered the day so far.

After a quick lunch of salad and gyros, Aubrey had pulled Stacie in the direction of the school library, despite it being closed on Sundays, only to be welcomed at the side door and led to the main study area, where the tables had been set aside and a large screen and an old film projector had been set up.

While waiting for the show to start, Aubrey had explained to Stacie that since the Arts and Media building renovated its theater, the old film projector and its reels had been sent to the library for archiving and safekeeping. And while going through the process of digitizing the reels, some enterprising members started to hold screenings while the films were run and recorded. But once all the reels had been digitized, somehow the screenings continued.

The screenings were also by invitation, Aubrey had explained, a token that graduating students were supposed to hand off to someone else. She hadn't gone to a screening her entire senior year, and had actually forgotten about it, except the token was still on her keychain. And then she'd taken Stacie's keys, and placed the silver token among the keys and charms already there.

And now, Aubrey was leading her through a series of stairs and passageways, through a building Stacie wasn't even sure was still part of Barden, until they emerged through a door and onto an empty patio. Stacie drew a blank for a second, since their view was obstructed by a big wall of nothing, probably built on the private property beside Barden. But then she turned, and was greeted by a view of the Barden campus' main square.

Stacie turned to Aubrey, a wide grin on her face. "This is amazing."

Aubrey smiled back, joining Stacie out on the side overlooking Barden, leaning against the steel railing.

"You can see most of Barden from here." Stacie observed in wonderment. She glanced at Aubrey. "Where are we, exactly?"

"The music conservatory." Aubrey answered. "It's uphill and hard to get to without a car, we went through the administrative office shortcut."

Three flights of stairs and labyrinthine corridors were a shortcut? Stacie stared at her.

Aubrey laughed. "There's another shortcut we'll use to get back to the house."

Stacie glanced back out to the view of Barden, and closed her eyes at the light breeze of the late afternoon air. "You win."

Aubrey arched an eyebrow.

"This was a pretty awesome date." Stacie admitted.

"Well, I aim to please."

"I will take you up on that later." Stacie promised. She opened her eyes, and turned to Aubrey, inquisitive. "Okay, you've got to tell me: the kitchen lab, the library, this? How do you know all this? And why doesn't Chloe?"

Aubrey shrugged. "These aren't the places the popular kids go to. The Poisoner is out of the way, and it's a major detour if you don't know if they'll be serving food. The library is for nerds who like old movies. This is out of the way, impossible to get to, _and_ not exactly the best place to hang out in." She indicated the slight slope of the rooftop, and the thin rails that was their only protection from slipping off. "And only the kids in the Conservatory know about the shortcut, from the days before they had a van that brings them from the media building up to here." Aubrey explained.

"So how do _you_ know about it?"

Aubrey smiled faintly. "The first girl I kissed played the cello."

Stacie arched an eyebrow.

Aubrey sighed sadly, and looked away. "If you were going to kiss a Southern, Christian girl having a sexual identity crisis and fearing the hell fire and brimstone she was sure would rain down on her if she even accepted she was attracted to girls, wouldn't you do it where the fallout will happen away from the rest of the campus?"

Stacie moved closer to her, and wrapped an arm around her waist, offering support. "What happened?"

Aubrey turned to her, moving closer into Stacie's loose embrace. "This was safe, right here. I could kiss her and figured it wouldn't matter, that it didn't really count. I liked her, but we didn't really hang out, except when she'd bring me here." Aubrey pointed behind Stacie. "She'd bring me here, and we'd listen to people play."

Considering Aubrey spoke fondly of this girl, but counted Stacie as her first sexual experience with women… "How did it end?"

Aubrey smiled wryly. "My Bella captain asked me if I was attracted to girls. I freaked. I stopped seeing her." She sighed, a slight chuckle escaping her lips. "Laura didn't even really know anything, it was just something she thought I should be able to talk about. By the time I stopped freaking out, the cellist was seeing someone else, and that's when I admitted to it. But sometimes I'd still come here, just to be alone."

"You brought me to the place where you made out with someone else?" Stacie asked teasingly, taking Aubrey's hand and tangling their fingers together. "We need to talk about your kinks, Aubrey Posen."

"You're plenty kinky for both of us, Stacie Conrad." Aubrey returned. She smiled at Stacie. "I brought you to the place where I could sit and just be myself. Whether it was with her or by myself, whether it was to get away from things or for some peace and quiet to figure it out, this is where I felt safest to do that." Her smile grew wry. "Because surprisingly, that fire and brimstone? Never happened."

"You've come a long way, baby." Stacie noted.

Aubrey nodded, and pulled Stacie closer. "So the gym? The library screenings? This? These were my safe places here. And the study hall in Bradford, but you can't enter that unless you're a Business major." She added hastily. "Because I'm sorry I wasn't much of a guide or mentor when you were a freshman, but maybe we can have this instead." She paused, and smiled broadly when the sound of instruments being used to warm up could be heard. She leaned in close, and kissed her softly. "The next few months is going to be difficult, we both know that. You'll be here, and I'll be at work, and I don't know if I'll be around for semis, or finals, or your final exams. There'll be days when I might not even be able to call you up or answer a message, and you're going to hate me for not being around. But you can come here. Or you can go to the library, find Chet, show him your keys, and he'll take you to the private study rooms for faculty and grad students."

Stacie gazed at Aubrey. "And when that's not enough?"

"And then you come and see me and remind me why my job is not as important as my relationship with you." Aubrey replied.

Stacie bit her lip, hesitating, before she asked: " And then what?"

Aubrey smiled. "And then we stick it out, and hope things get easier and better."

"What if they don't?" Even as she asked the question, Stacie wondered what it was about Aubrey that brought out both the optimist and the pessimist in her, when for years she had been someone who took things in stride and didn't let much affect her.

Aubrey sighed, because she knew as well as Stacie did that it was a possibility, and she also knew she didn't have the answer to that option. "If they don't… We'll try harder. We'll figure it out."

Stacie paused, and looked up at her, her eyes burning into Aubrey's with a startling intensity. "You won't choose to leave?"

Aubrey knew it probably wasn't the best response, but she couldn't help but smile. "Did that once. It's long since stopped being an option."


	27. Chapter 27

Chloe was slowly roused from slumber when she heard the door to her room open, followed by giddy sounds of giggling and hasty shushing noises, of Aubrey and Stacie stumbling into the room, clearly distracted or drunk, if the way they were bumping into things were any indication.

She considered just letting them go about their business, but then one of them let out a really low, long moan, making Chloe reconsider. It was the sharp gasp, however, that made her speak up. "Seriously?"

"Shit." The couple cursed in unison, and after Chloe reached over to turn on the lamp at her bedside, she turned back in time to see Aubrey hastily pulling her shirt down, while Stacie casually rearranged her top back into some decency.

"Sorry," Aubrey apologized. "Did we wake you? Because we-"

"You're in bed already?" Stacie interrupted, taking her shoes off and kicking them under her bed.

"Yeah." Chloe cut a glance back at Aubrey, who fidgeted slightly before taking her coat off and folding it, draping it over the seat by the desk, all while avoiding looking at Chloe. Chloe picked up her phone to check the time, and turned to frown at them. "It's late."

"It is." Stacie confirmed. She glanced at Aubrey, who ducked her head, before turning back to Chloe. "We got carried away."

Chloe decided she didn't want to know, so she slumped back into her bed. "Well, keep it down."

As she dozed in that state between being awake and sleeping, she heard the two women in the room go about their bedtime rituals, the familiar sounds occasionally interrupted by the same earlier giggling and sharp shushing sounds, until Stacie laughed loudly before the bath room door slammed shut.

"Maybe I won't wear clothes to bed, how's that?" Stacie retorted.

Wisely, Chloe thought, Aubrey didn't take the bait. Or even if she did, the bathroom door remained closed.

Chloe drifted in and out of wakefulness, hearing but not listening to the softly-spoken conversation across the room, until one particularly wakeful round of consciousness, when she found the room dark with the lamp turned off, and the whispered discussion on the other bed was particularly clear.

"I'm just saying, it's a waste to cap an awesome date with PG-13 cuddling." Stacie insisted.

"Petty revenge aside, Chloe's right there."

"And I'm telling you, she won't mind."

"How do you even come to that conclusion?"

"I've pretended to sleep through a lot of Titanium play counts." Stacie told her. "And she told us to keep it down, which means we just have to keep quiet, which—"

Without opening her eyes or turning towards them, Chloe pointed in their general direction. "Don't have sex while I'm in the room."

"Aw." Stacie's pout could practically be heard in the single syllable, while Aubrey bit her tongue to keep from retorting that Chloe hadn't extended her the same courtesy once upon a time.

There was a momentary awkward silence as each girl in the room contemplated their situation, each one knowing most of each other's bed-related habits and the things that can and cannot be said in polite company. Or when your former roommate was dating your current roommate and they both knew about what you did under covers listening to your lady jam.

And then Aubrey queried to Stacie, "Did Chloe ever tell you about that time I loaded a Titanium remix on her iPod?"

Stacie laughed, a sound that came out loud and clear in the quiet of the room. "No."

"You're such a bitch, Aubrey." Chloe accused. It had been years, but she was still piqued when she remembered it; the particular remix Aubrey had chosen to replace the one already on her media player had been a dance remix and had been fifteen minutes long, the buildup Chloe was so accustomed to ruined by sudden beat breaks and changes in rhythm.

She especially hated Aubrey's self-satisfaction at her little prank, and the way she evidently found it disproportionately hilarious.

"And she had a class after, so that was—"

Chloe threw one of her pillows across the room towards the other bed, making the occupants of that bed burst out laughing.

Hours after they finally fell asleep, Chloe's slumber was once again interrupted by Aubrey, this time by her phone ringing and a frantic blonde springing out of bed to answer it. Chloe grumbled, and turned to tell Aubrey to go back to sleep, it being a holiday and everything, but before she could, she realized it was still dark. She watched in sleepy curiosity as Aubrey dug through her things for her tablet, turning on the lamp by the desk and continuing the call. Still too sleepy to stay awake, Chloe found herself drifting back to sleep, listening to Aubrey rattle off terms and numbers she didn't understand, as if she hadn't just woken up.

When she woke up again a few hours later, the room bright with the early morning sun, Chloe glanced over across the room to where Stacie was sleeping, occupying the width of her bed, and Aubrey was nowhere to be found. Deciding that she wasn't going to repeat the previous day's mistake of getting up late and missing out on crepes, Chloe got out of bed, and went to the main floor of the house.

The kitchen was empty, despite the coffeemaker being full – although it was no longer hot – and Chloe looked around, puzzled, before she peeked into the living room to find Aubrey lying with her eyes closed on the couch, her tablet lying flat on her stomach and a cup of what Chloe presumed would have been coffee on the shelf behind the couch she lay on. Chloe was about to greet her and announce her presence, but Aubrey suddenly adjusted her phone, and declared, "This is Aubrey. I'll need to confer with Regional and Workforce on that matter; I would need the specific details of your concern, if you could email them to me? That's great, thank you. Kath, consider this your heads up."

Chloe returned to the kitchen, throwing out the cooling coffee before starting to prepare a new batch.

A few minutes later, Chloe watched, toast in hand and coffee on the table in front of her, as Aubrey continued her call, pacing the length of the living room, at one point putting the Bluetooth receiver on as she started charging her phone.

This was the woman she had always envisioned Aubrey would become: confident, self-assured, some kind of power player in a competitive field. The girl she had met as a freshman had been gearing towards becoming this person, and Chloe, despite their disparate positions in life at the moment, couldn't help but feel proud of Aubrey.

Even as she wondered if the distance between them had been instrumental in helping Aubrey get to her current position.

Probably drawn by the smell of coffee at a decent hour, some of the Barden Bellas slowly drifted in, grabbing a cup of coffee and some toast or cereal for breakfast. Stacie, perhaps predictably, was the only one who braved a detour through the living room, her presence briefly acknowledged by a quick touch of their hands before Stacie picked up Aubrey's cup and made her way to the kitchen.

Jessica pointed in the direction of the living room, where Aubrey was typing on her tablet. "It's a holiday."

"It's not in other countries." Stacie sighed in response.

 _Other countries._ Which would explain why Aubrey had received a call when it had still been dark out.

"What, exactly, does Aubrey do?" Denise asked curiously.

The group of Chloe, Jessica, Denise and Lilly all turned to Stacie, who shrugged, lifting her hands in seeming cluelessness. "She calls herself a troubleshooter."

The group seemed to take that at face value, also shrugging among themselves.

In the next room, Aubrey groaned aloud. "Fix your own capacity problem, _damn_."

Stacie grinned, taking the exclamation as a signal that Aubrey's phone call was officially over, and turned as Aubrey entered the kitchen, pulling off her Bluetooth earpiece. "How long was that call?"

"Ugh, I don't know. An hour and a half?" Aubrey shrugged.

Chloe frowned at her. "You took a call at five in the morning."

Aubrey turned to her, and smiled apologetically. "Did I wake you? That was one of my coworkers warning me about the call I was just on."

Lilly frowned at her.

Aubrey shook her head at the younger woman. "I know. Please don't make me explain it." She looked around, and frowned as she turned back to the present Bellas. "Breakfast?"

They all shook their heads.

Aubrey sighed in defeat. She'd been awake now for at least four hours, and had been subsisting on coffee that whole time. And she was really hungry. She turned to Stacie. "Breakfast?"

Stacie met her gaze, her agreement readily at the tip of her tongue, before she decided that for all her desire to spend Aubrey's remaining hours in Georgia together, alone, in a room somewhere and probably in bed, she also didn't want to isolate her relationship with Aubrey as something separate from their relationships and friendships with the rest of the Barden Bellas. As she had told Beca, being a Bella was important to Aubrey, and Chloe was the most important friend she had, current estrangement or not; and Stacie herself had said enough times that she wanted Aubrey to be a part of her life in Barden, and the most important part of that were the Barden Bellas.

Aubrey arched an eyebrow expectantly, when Stacie took a beat too long to answer. "Stace?"

Stacie snapped back to attention, and instead of answering Aubrey, turned to Chloe. "Aubrey told me you two had a diner you always used to go to for their breakfast menu."

Chloe glanced at Aubrey, who looked on in puzzlement. Equally confused, she turned back to Stacie. "Yeah… they have this whole list of stuff you can have added to your pancakes that Aubrey and I tried to go through."

Stacie turned to Aubrey. "We should go." The Barden Bellas were just going to have to suck it up and play nice with her girlfriend. "Maybe we can even turn breakfast at that place into a regular Bella thing."

"No." Aubrey and Chloe said together, shaking their heads.

"Stacie, you're wonderful and lovely and I love you, and you're very smart, but don't say stuff like that out loud." Aubrey told Stacie.

"There's not enough cardio in the world that would make that okay." Chloe added.

"What?" Jessica questioned, laughing.

Chloe turned to her. "It's really…" She shook her head.

"It should come with an American Health Association warning." Aubrey explained. She glanced at Stacie, this time with some understanding on what Stacie had in mind, and acquiesced to the suggestion. "You have to see it to believe it."

The reason for the hesitation of the former co-captains became evident when the current crop of Barden Bellas saw the amount of food per serving, with the two eldest individuals at the table not bothering to hide their amusement at the flabbergasted expressions on the other girls' faces. For their part, Aubrey and Chloe had ticked one more item off the pancake filling menu, a rare common ground between the two women during the weekend.

It was a mom and pop diner, catering mostly to locals but had the relaxed atmosphere of a college town eatery, given its proximity to the Barden University campus. Aubrey and Chloe had come across the place during one of their gastronomic exploratory trips, and the reminder of simpler times, and the warm and accommodating atmosphere seemed to help ease Aubrey's countenance, as she seemed far more at ease, relaxed even, with the other Bellas. Or maybe whatever her official phone call earlier had been about held positive news.

Or the Barden Bellas had a weakness when it came to breakfast food.

Whatever it was seemed to be working, though, so Stacie wasn't going to question it. And being in such familiar surroundings and situation seemed to be the common denominator that got Aubrey and Chloe… if not quite bonding, they were at least talking to each other. So much so that at the end of the meal, when Aubrey got up to pay for the meal at the counter, it was Chloe who joined her while their bill was being tallied.

"You're leaving this afternoon?" Chloe asked, picking up on something that had been mentioned during breakfast. "I thought you weren't leaving until tonight."

"I have stuff to work on for a meeting tomorrow morning." Aubrey explained. "I wish I could stay, believe me."

Chloe smiled wryly. "Even with the lackluster reception and your best friend being MIA?"

Aubrey mirrored her smile. "But then I guess we know there's blame to share."

Chloe's smile faded at the reminder. "You're here now; and none of that seems to matter anymore."

Aubrey sighed, but didn't refute the statement, even while she felt that wasn't completely true.

Because she knew, and she knew Chloe knew, that the decline of their friendship had been a product of neglect, that the current state of their relationship could be blamed on the fact that they had both avoided discussing the heavier issues with each other. They have both avoided the person who knew them best when Aubrey had been buried in work and wanted to avoid thinking about the nature of her job, while Chloe flittered from one distraction to another to avoid the question of why she thrived on the endless distractions; and the line of communication that had always been open between them had been relatively closed.

And Aubrey wished she and Chloe could just gloss over that fact, and pretend the past year or so hadn't been as strained as it was, that there weren't secrets they had kept from each other.

Except she couldn't, because she hadn't been the person Chloe always saw the good in, and Chloe had gone and failed a subject so she could stay in Barden for another year.

"Yeah, I didn't think so either." Chloe admitted, an admission followed by a lengthy silence.

Aubrey had to smile, if even slightly, because she was still glad she and Chloe were relatively on the same page.

"I'm only going to ask this one last time," Chloe started as they made their way out of the diner towards the van where the rest of the Bellas were already waiting. When Aubrey turned to meet her gaze, they both rolled their eyes in bemusement, because they knew just how much that was a lie, given Chloe's persistent nature, and she conceded that point. "Okay, but _for now_ the last time. But why didn't you or Stacie tell me you were seeing each other?"

"Because until Christmas, there wasn't really anything to tell." Aubrey insisted. "And even then… we're still figuring this relationship out. We wanted to be in a more stable relationship before we started really telling other people."

"So why didn't she say anything before you showed up?"

Aubrey sighed. "I don't know. I thought she was going to, but the way she explains it, she just kept chickening out of telling you."

"Why?"

Aubrey looked at her. "You know why."

Chloe frowned in confusion.

"Because the Bellas are her best friends, Chloe. That counts for something. But her relationship with the group is different from mine, and she and I built this relationship separate from the Bellas." Aubrey shrugged her shoulders. "And she doesn't want it to be."

"That's why you're here?"

"That's why I'm here _this weekend_." Aubrey corrected. "Because even though you forced it to happen, and made her invite me over this weekend? I know she was tired of sneaking around."

Chloe regarded her friend, her earlier marvel at the woman Aubrey had become now made greater. Because she had witnessed many of Aubrey's college relationships, and had listened to her stories about the boy she'd dated throughout high school; and through all of those narratives, she had never seen Aubrey voluntarily put herself in the position of vulnerability, or put anyone else's needs or desires above her own.

Chloe stopped walking, and grabbed Aubrey's arm to make her stop and turn to face her. Once they faced each other, she confessed, "I've missed you."

Aubrey smiled warmly. "I've missed you too, Chloe."

"Of course you have." Chloe joked, although her jovial tone was tinted with some sadness in her voice. "But maybe you can try to be less of a stranger from now on?"

Aubrey's smile faded somewhat at the reminder of what was ahead for her, and how it would affect her relationships in Barden. "Easier said than done. I got a new assignment, and won't get to travel as much anymore."

"Oh." Chloe tried to mask her disappointment, but failed as she frowned at Aubrey. "But you'll try, right?"

"Of course." Aubrey reassured her. Operative word being "try". But she didn't say that part out loud.

"And I'll try not to be so avoid-y next time." Chloe noted dryly.

Aubrey's gaze was laden with scrutiny at the reminder of her primary concern regarding her best friend. They've been for the most part estranged, sure, but that didn't mean Aubrey liked being out of the loop on Chloe's decision to stay another year in Barden. "Chloe…"

"Please don't." Chloe interrupted, knowing what Aubrey was likely to say. She looked at Aubrey in earnest, almost pleadingly. "I don't want to talk about it."

Because Chloe was someone who wore her heart on her sleeve, and Aubrey had spent four years living with Chloe's particularly honest and straightforward soul, she understood that when Chloe admitted that she didn't want to talk about something, she meant it. And Aubrey had learned to pick her battles. "Okay."

Chloe's relief was nothing if not obvious.

"But you're fine?" Aubrey asked instead. She might be willing to let Chloe keep quiet about her decision-making process, but she still needed some reassurance regarding Chloe's well-being.

Chloe gazed at Aubrey, and nodded.

Aubrey smiled faintly. "Then that's what matters, right?"

Later, when Stacie asked if she and Chloe were better, Aubrey had to sigh. Because 'better' was relative, and while she and Chloe were at least talking now, Aubrey knew she and Chloe still had a long way to go in repairing their relationship. Because just as Chloe refused to talk about why she had stayed in Barden for another year, they hadn't addressed why they haven't really talked in over a year, or what Aubrey had been up to since graduation.

At least Chloe seemed to be over her shock of Stacie dating Aubrey, and had even acquiesced by letting the couple have some time alone before Aubrey left for the airport, with the request that they kept it out of her side of the room, and for Stacie to invest in air fresheners.

They had rolled their eyes at Chloe's insinuation, but inevitably proved her right anyway.

When Aubrey's phone alarm went off, signaling her last hour left in Barden, it also effectively burst the insulated bubble that had been their Galentine's Weekend/Presidents' Day date. Stacie watched with a heavy heart as Aubrey did a final check of her bag, having packed up that morning before they left for the diner, and asked, "What are you doing for Spring Break?"

Aubrey glanced over her shoulder at her, and smiled. "Still not a holiday."

"And the state of Georgia doesn't actually celebrate Presidents' Day, but here we are. Your point?"

Aubrey zipped closed her overnight bag, and returned to Stacie's bed, sitting at the edge. "I thought you were going to go to New Orleans or Florida."

"Or I was thinking, I could come up?" Stacie suggested, reaching out and taking Aubrey's hand in her own, tangling their fingers together. "You don't even have to entertain me, I swear. I just want to see you for a whole week."

Aubrey glanced down at their hands, smiling wryly to herself at the reminder of Stacie's dedication to cuticle care, and then visually traced up Stacie's arm, finally landing on Stacie's expectant gaze. "You'll probably be celebrating your victory at semifinals."

"And I'd love to be able to celebrate with you." Stacie countered.

Aubrey smiled at her, and leaned down to kiss her. "I'd like that."

Stacie released Aubrey's hand so she could bring her hands to cup either side of Aubrey's head, holding her close. "You might want to file some leave time."

Aubrey placed one hand on the bed beside Stacie's head to leverage her weight, and she couldn't help but arch an eyebrow with a smug coyness. "Oh? Are we going somewhere?"

"No," Stacie smiled, before kissing Aubrey again. "I might not let you out of your bed."

Aubrey chuckled against their kiss. "I'll look forward to it."

After a few more series of kisses, Aubrey's phone interrupted again, making Stacie groan into their kiss. "Ignore it."

"I might miss my flight." Aubrey murmured, but didn't make a move to heed her phone's alarm.

"I'm not seeing a problem."

Aubrey slid a hand to Stacie's back, and pulled her along as she sat back up, and immediately resumed their kiss. "I'm going to miss you."

Stacie sighed into their kiss. "I'll miss you more."

They have been through this enough times in the past for the dance to be familiar, but this was the first time the concept of next time felt vague and abstract. In the past, they had always both known that Aubrey would find a way to be within traveling distance to meet Stacie, it was only a matter of _when_. They didn't have that this time around.

So if their kisses got a little desperate and needy, it was an accurate reflection of how they felt.


	28. Chapter 28

The breakfast, Stacie realized belatedly, had been an admittedly stroke of genius on her part, because in a way it acted as bribery, a way she and Aubrey had bought the Bellas' silence, reminding them of their part in the mess that had been Galentine's Weekend; it kept them from pushing the issue of the hows and whys of Stacie and Aubrey dating, all the details that their relationship entailed. After all, Stacie knew they had questions, and she couldn't blame them: She had never been shy about the topic of sex, the people she hung out with, dated, or had sex with, and her aversion to long-term relationships… and then she'd gone and pulled the rug out from everyone, and of all the people she could have turned out to be dating, she had gone and started a relationship with Aubrey, no less. She was under no delusion that her fellow Bellas didn't have questions.

She was also pretty sure someone – she was going to assume Beca, because despite her stature and desire to stay out of any kind of drama, Beca's strength as the leader of the Bellas was in her desire to keep the peace among her friends – had talked to the Bellas and probably pleaded with them not to push Stacie any more than they already had. Because, yes, breakfast with Aubrey had thawed relations somewhat, and reminded them that for all their fear and trepidation when it came to Aubrey Posen, Aubrey had still been a Bella, had been their teammate, and by stretching its very definition, had actually been their friend.

The Bellas had questions, and sometimes they couldn't help themselves and would ask Stacie questions about the relationship, like how long it had been going on or just how serious was the relationship. Some had taken to teasing Stacie about it, making jokes at her expense, but as long as she felt it was good-natured and merely the teasing banter of well-meaning friends, she was willing to take it.

And then there was Chloe.

Maybe it was because Aubrey was her best friend. Maybe it was because Stacie was her roommate. Maybe it was because all three of them had had plenty of opportunities to talk about certain subjects, and each of them had opted to stay quiet. But two people close to Chloe had kept her in the dark about their relationship, and even though that secret was out, there were still so many unanswered questions; and while the rest of the Bellas knew they weren't in the position to ask questions, by virtue of her relationship with Aubrey and Stacie, Stacie knew and understood why Chloe would be emotionally affected by the Galentine's Weekend reveal. Maybe Chloe and Aubrey had started talking again, but by Aubrey's own admission, they hadn't really fixed anything.

And Chloe was avoiding her.

Okay, to be fair, the avoidance wasn't _too_ blatant, not like when Chloe had been avoiding Aubrey over the doomed weekend that had been Galentine's, but considering they were both known for their sometimes-complete disregard of people's boundaries and personal space, it was kind of hard for Stacie to ignore how she and her roommate were tiptoeing around each other. Sure, they shared the same space, and they talked, but their topics of conversation were completely mundane, and shallow, and Stacie was more than aware of how they both carefully avoided the topic of Aubrey Posen.

Deep down, Stacie had to admit, she sort of understood where Chloe was coming from. Because whatever the other Bellas felt and thought about her relationship with Aubrey, Chloe's had to be magnified, by the very fact that it had been her best friend and her roommate, and they had kept something as big as a serious relationship from her.

Because she and Aubrey had wanted to figure out their relationship before they told their friends.

Because for all her blunt and straightforward attitude when it came to talking about sex and dating, Stacie had never been as confident when it came to relationships. And she knew she and Aubrey had muddled through the very act of establishing that they even _were_ in a relationship.

A relationship that was now public knowledge, something the Bellas now had an interest in, something she and Aubrey no longer could merely stumble through and make mistakes on and fix later.

Now that it was a _relationship_ , that came with expectations not just their own, and as Aubrey once noted, the Bellas protected their own, which meant that while she was dating _Stacie_ , for all intents and purposes, she was also kind of entertaining the entire group of Bellas in the process.

"You know how you're going to be in Atlanta this weekend and we're supposed to hang out?" Stacie asked distractedly, lying on her stomach on her bed as she read through and highlighted a paragraph in her text book.

"…Yes…" Aubrey intoned slowly.

"That's Flo's birthday and you have to bring a gift."

"I don't even know Flo."

"Sure you do. Short, one-time gymnast, sings bass?"

"Pretends to be an illegal immigrant stereotype, I know. I don't understand why I have to bring her a gift."

"It's her birthday." Stacie repeated.

There was a pause, and then Aubrey abruptly hung up.

Stacie waited, and when her phone rang again, she answered pleasantly. "Hi, baby, what's up?"

"I'm going to be in Atlanta this weekend, do you want to come up and enjoy room service, or should I drop by Barden?"

Going along with the pretense, Stacie shrugged, even though Aubrey couldn't see her. "It's Flo's birthday on Saturday, so I can't leave until after the party. But you should come by."

"I see. Should I bring a present?"

"She likes shows on The CW and The X Factor."

"Or you can just tell me what to get, and save us the trouble."

Stacie laughed. "I've ordered something online, you can just help me pay for it."

"Better." Aubrey agreed.

"And bring drinks."

"I'm going to guess you mean something with alcohol, which brings up the question of if you're just using me for my ID."

"Of course not." Stacie responded, smiling. "I'm also using you for your body, haven't I made that obvious?"

"You're lucky you're so hot." Aubrey told her placidly. "I have to go. But I'll see you Saturday."

"Yeah. And, Aubrey?"

"Yes?"

"Dress down?"

"I _was_ going to wear the leather and lace I use when I conduct training, but I guess that's out of the question."

"I love you too." Stacie quipped, before what Aubrey had said registered, and she sat up abruptly as she asked, "Wait, do you really have a leather outfit, or…"

"Love you too. I'll see you on Saturday." Aubrey told her.

It had only been a few weeks since Galentine's, and Stacie had warned the Bellas that Aubrey was going to visit that weekend, with the warning that they would have to be a whole lot more welcoming than they had been that previous visit.

The alcohol helped.

As both a present, and an icebreaker.

The speed with which Stacie opened the door after Aubrey knocked - because that was the polite thing to do, even in a house party - indicated to her that Stacie had been standing near the door, possibly in anticipation of her appearance, and the older girl quickly found herself with an armful of Stacie Conrad. She hastily broke the kiss Stacie had greeted her with, and quirked an eyebrow. "Drunk already?"

"We pre-gamed."

Aubrey glanced around the Bella house, packed to capacity, before glancing back towards her girlfriend. "You're hosting the party."

Stacie shrugged, giggling. "Whoops." She took note of Aubrey's outfit, which was basically a more expensive and classier take on her outfits back in college, and grinned at her. "And - hey! - you don't even look slightly evil!"

Aubrey rolled her eyes. "Offer me a drink, Stacie."

"I can do that." Stacie agreed, and grabbed Aubrey's hand before leading them through the crowd of people towards the living room. Once there, she announced with a flourish, "Look who's here!"

"Aubrey!" The Bellas assembled there greeted, all evidently inebriated. Around them, also drunk, several other partygoers echoed the exclaimed greeting.

Stacie turned to Aubrey. "You promised to bring alcohol."

Aubrey shook her head. "I really didn't."

"No, you…" Stacie scrunched up her face, thinking, before she gasped in horror when she realized the truth in Aubrey's words.

Aubrey laughed. "I'm gonna go get something to drink."

"I'll come with." Stacie said, and startled when she realized she hadn't let go of Aubrey's hand. She lifted their joined hands, and showed it to Aubrey. "Hey, look."

Being in her second college party in so many weeks, but the first one in ages since she'd graduated, Aubrey was quickly reminded how much she disliked cheap beer - a dislike that had only grown since being introduced to decent beer - and after nearly spitting out the drink from the keg Beca's boyfriend was manning, Aubrey made a call and followed through on Stacie's instruction to provide alcohol. The new kegs came half an hour later, and even though she was willing to guess that the she was the only one who really noticed the difference in quality, at least the Bellas wouldn't be known for having terrible beer.

She also hadn't eaten since lunch, which was why the next time Stacie found her, she was in a corner of the kitchen eating a buffalo chicken wrap, conversing with a guy Stacie had never seen before. "Where'd you get food?"

Aubrey, in the middle of chewing, pointed beside her at the unknown entity.

Stacie glanced at him curiously, but smiled nonetheless. "And you are…?"

"Kevin." He answered, which offered very little by way of explaining his presence.

Stacie blinked, and glanced back at Aubrey questioningly.

Aubrey pat the guy's shoulder. "Super- _super_ -senior and almost-four-degree Kevin runs a concierge service around Barden. He brought the good beer."

Stacie frowned. "Barden has a concierge service?"

Both Aubrey and Kevin laughed, making Stacie confused in a way that went beyond her inebriation.

"It doesn't, and I actually really shouldn't, either." Kevin admitted.

"And you support this?" Stacie asked Aubrey curiously.

"He runs errands for a small fee. I was a very busy student. I couldn't complain."

"You actually did. A lot." Kevin reminded. He shook his head, and looked at Stacie, mouthing the words with exaggeration, " _a lot_."

Aubrey shot him a withering glare. "Are you enjoying the view of a bunch of undergrads dancing like there's no tomorrow?"

Kevin glanced at Aubrey, and the way she and Stacie were standing closely together. He smirked at his friend. "Are you?"

He laughed as Aubrey shoved him away. "Jerk."

Having tired of the conversation, Stacie focused on Aubrey, who had finished her wrap and chasing it down with her beer. "Are you done here?"

"Actually we were—"

"Shut up and dance with me."

Aubrey snapped her mouth shut and nodded immediately, before she remembered her company.

"I'll be fine. We'll talk later." Kevin assured her. He grinned. "I'll be here, enjoying the view."

Aubrey pointed at him in warning even as she let Stacie pull her away. "Don't touch any of my Bellas."

He raised his hands in a show of innocence and surrender.

Finding the smallest possible amount of space in the middle of the living room that acted as the dance floor, Stacie immediately pulled Aubrey close, pleased when Aubrey didn't object to how closely they were dancing together. After a while, Stacie grinned and asked, " _Your_ Bellas?"

After Aubrey's hesitation to even _address_ the subject of the Bellas early in their relationship, this was certainly an interesting turn of events.

Aubrey looked away. "Shut up."

Stacie's grin grew even wider.

Aubrey looked back at her and saw the grin, and shook her head, even as she was unable to keep herself from smiling, as well. "Shut up!"

Stacie laughed, and, lifting her hand to cup the back of Aubrey's neck, pulled her in for a kiss.

It was supposed to be playful, a quick kiss to convey to Aubrey her appreciation for the fact that Aubrey was looking out for the Barden Bellas as a natural reaction. But it had been weeks since they last saw each other, and seeing Aubrey in the context of a college party, with her hair down and looking more like the girl who had attended Barden and less the young professional who was only in Atlanta to conduct a training seminar for a company subsidiary, only served to remind Stacie how much she craved Aubrey.

And from the way Aubrey was responding to the kiss, the want was clearly returned.

An eruption of cheers and applause broke their lustful haze, and Aubrey broke the kiss to duck her head while Stacie glared in the direction of a congregation of her friends, who had caused the commotion.

"Get a room!" Fat Amy hollered at them.

Stacie didn't need to be told twice, and when a quick glance at Aubrey earned a subtle nod, they quickly made their way up the stairwell and towards the room she and Chloe shared.

"Occupied!"

"Chloe, _seriously_?"

"What-"

"…Just stay out of my side of the room."

Stacie pushed Aubrey back out of the room and closed the door behind her, leaving them back in the hallway and Chloe and some guy inside the room. She hazarded a look at Aubrey, who was frowning at the door. "What?"

"Chloe's dating someone?"

Stacie grimaced. "Uhhh… sex isn't dating."

"That wasn't a Treble, was it?"

"No," Stacie shook her head, waving that question off. "That's Pete, Chloe's flavor of the week."

Aubrey arched an eyebrow.

"She's kind of been avoiding the house, what with me and the 'you' thing, and Beca with the Jesse's-mom-being-in-town-and-met-Beca thing." Stacie explained.

Which answered Aubrey's unasked question of whether or not there had been headway made in regards to Chloe's reaction to Aubrey's relationship with Stacie.

Stacie bit her lower lip as she averted her gaze, unsure of what to do next now that she'd revealed how Chloe was reacting to recent matters in her life, and welcoming Aubrey back with some distractive reunion sex was out of the question.

"Hey."

Stacie turned back at Aubrey's gentle voice, and let Aubrey's thumb release her lip from the nervous biting she had been doing. She smiled as Aubrey pressed a kiss to the lip she had been abusing, and parted her lips and turned her head to deepen the kiss, closing her eyes as Aubrey pressed closer to her, reveling in the sensation of having Aubrey leaning into her.

Aubrey gently eased off their kiss, sighing softly. "I've missed you."

Stacie sighed as well. "I missed you too." Her eyelids fluttered open, and she gazed at Aubrey. "Back to the party?"

Aubrey nodded.

Stacie sighed again, pressing a quick kiss to Aubrey's lips before she took back Aubrey's hand to head back downstairs.

"What are we going to tell everyone?" Aubrey asked, concerned, because she was pretty sure people would wonder why she and Stacie were returning to the main floor after the little display they had put on earlier.

Stacie shot her a look. "That we decided it was rude and want to continue drinking and dancing."

Aubrey glanced behind them in the direction of a certain door.

"Everyone in here are college students with healthy sex drives, Bree. We don't need to draw them a diagram." Stacie paused when they reached the first floor landing, and smiled wryly at Aubrey. "Even if I really wanted us to get a room."

Aubrey smiled at her. "Luckily, I have a hotel room."

Stacie knew she really shouldn't have looked so buoyed by that statement, but she was.

They stayed at the party until late, Stacie staying by Aubrey's side as they hung out with the Bellas, with Aubrey even playing nice with the Treblemakers in attendance. They left after one in the morning, the party abruptly ending due to the campus curfew, but not before Stacie was forced to promise her friends that they would be back early the next day with breakfast and to help clean up.

Once in the back seat of the car Aubrey had ordered, she leaned back and closed her eyes, letting her exhaustion of the day catch up with her.

Stacie glanced at her. "You want to talk about it?"

Aubrey groaned, which was a clear indicator of how she felt. "Everything's classified highly confidential and even if they weren't, saying it all out loud is bound to make me throw up and cry, so tell me about _your_ life."

"One of my professors picked me to be part of his research group." Stacie told her. "It's boring, mostly picking apart previous studies and finding studies that support his own thesis, but so far it's been okay."

"It'll look good on paper." Aubrey acknowledged.

"And if he gets published my name will be attached, so that'll be cool."

Aubrey opened one eye to peer at the other girl. "Awesome?"

"So awesome." Stacie nodded, grinning. "And Beca's finally finished the mix we'll sing for semis, so that's working out."

"Is Beca still helping the Trebles?"

"I don't…" Stacie paused, and shook her head. "I don't think so. One of the reasons she even agreed to meet Jesse's mom was because she felt guilty she hasn't really been spending time with him."

"And she fixes that by meeting his mom?" Aubrey asked curiously.

"I guess." Stacie shrugged. Neither of them followed up on that, though, because to do so was to bring up the matter of Beca, and Chloe, and the fact that Chloe was keeping busy and distracting herself with boys that Stacie, who not too long ago considered random sex as her _raison d'être_ , described as Chloe's "flavor of the week". Instead, she looked at Aubrey, who gazed back at her questioningly. "Yes?"

Instead of immediately answering, Stacie merely smiled at her, making Aubrey smile back in return despite her continued confusion on why Stacie was staring at her. "What?"

Stacie grinned, and covered the distance between them, capturing Aubrey's lips in a kiss that she hoped accurately conveyed her intentions on what was in store for them when they got to the hotel. Despite her obvious exhaustion, Aubrey reciprocated, meeting Stacie's passion with her own. When they parted, Stacie whispered, "I'm happy you're here."

It's a close call, but they managed to make it to Aubrey's hotel room without causing a scandal - even though Aubrey suspected that the Uber driver who had taken them to the hotel cared less about getting paid than the free show happening in the backseat - and it would have been embarrassing how quickly their coupling proceeded if they hadn't been so desperate to touch and feel each other.

In the morning they'll have to go back to Barden, play nice with the Bellas, bring them breakfast and help them clean up the house; face Chloe and the rest of the Barden Bellas and probably have to answer an awkward question or two, and by the end of the day Aubrey would have to fly out again.

But until then, they had a few hours to enjoy their hotel room bubble.


	29. Chapter 29

Stacie started to understand Aubrey's warning about her new work conditions and its demands the first time she woke up to an empty bed and a handwritten note explaining she'd received a call demanding her presence across the country to prep for a meeting early Monday morning, and apologizing for leaving the Bella house without waking her first. Despite her best efforts, and the fact that she had known Aubrey had done her best to even make it to Georgia for the weekend, a mere two weeks after her last visit, it was hard not to feel bad to wake up that way on a Sunday morning. She felt equally bad when she found out from Beca that Aubrey had been leaving just as Beca had been coming home from her midnight shift at the radio station, meaning Aubrey had barely slept before she'd left.

Luckily, it was a Sunday, and whoever had summoned Aubrey was kind enough to let their employees take time off to prepare for the morning meeting ahead.

"Where are you right now?" Stacie asked, seated on the couch in the living room with some of the other Bellas doing their homework around her, while she watched Jessica and Chloe by the dining room table, looking over the music for their backup set for semifinals.

"I don't know." Aubrey sighed. "Somewhere in Nevada."

"Vegas?"

"I wish. Somewhere off-Vegas, actually."

Stacie smiled wryly. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"I don't think I'd have the energy for that, even if I were inclined to." Aubrey replied. "I'm really sorry about just leaving."

"Why didn't you wake me?"

Aubrey sighed softly. "We'd just fallen asleep when the phone call came in. I didn't want to wake you."

"Why do they need you there on a Sunday, anyway?" Stacie asked. "Couldn't this have been done by phone, or email, or, I don't know, _Friday_?"

"Baby, I wish I knew. But they call, I answer. I get a flight itinerary, I fly. It's kind of how it works."

"They say jump, you ask how high?"

"I actually have to jump, but you get the idea."

"Your job sucks."

"I know."

Stacie paused, and asked, "You came to visit me with business clothes in your bag?"

"It's kind of a necessity at this point," Aubrey admitted.

Stacie frowned. "Have you slept?"

"What's sleep?" Aubrey laughed wryly. It was said in a joking manner, and she tried to make light of it, but she honestly had hated being jolted awake at an ungodly hour of morning to be told she needed to take a flight out west to be part of a meeting she hadn't even known existed until they had called her in.

Stacie quirked an eyebrow, curious, but she knew Aubrey wasn't going to be forthcoming in discussing office matters. "How long will you be there?"

"Uh, Tuesday? I don't know. Until the deal's finalized, I guess."

Stacie pouted. "I miss you already."

"You just saw me."

"I know, but I had plans for this weekend." Stacie grumbled.

"Yeah?"

"Mostly sex," - Stacie was cut off by the Bellas around her collectively groaning and protesting, joking about the offense to their sensibilities, and she glared at them - "but there were some other stuff, too."

"Trust me, I would have preferred to stay there than be here." Aubrey assured her. There was a pause, and then asked, "Was Chloe okay with us just locking her out of the room last night?"

"It was locking her out or having her walk in, I think she preferred being locked out and taking the couch."

"You owe me!" Chloe called out to her.

Stacie ignored her, continuing to address Aubrey. "So, semis are coming up…"

Aubrey hummed. "Where are the semifinals going to be held this year?"

"Funny you should ask. It's going to be in Atlanta, and if you play your cards right, I can get you a ticket." Stacie lowered her voice, "And rumor has it that the girl giving you the ticket? Pretty awesome in bed."

Aubrey laughed. "I will have you know, young lady, I have a girlfriend that I love very much."

"Yeah?"

"And she's pretty hot, so."

"Hot or not, can she make you c—"

"Stacie!" Came the round of exclamatory protest around her, cutting her off, and Stacie pouted at her friends.

"Get a room!" Fat Amy told her.

"I'll see what I can do." Aubrey told Stacie with a sigh. "Send me details, I'll clear my calendar."

"Awesome." Stacie breathed. "Take care of yourself."

"I'm trying." Aubrey assured her, exhaustion seeping into her voice. "I love you."

Stacie blushed, because she honestly still wasn't used to that kind of easy, heartfelt declarations, and smiled as she returned, "I love you too."

"Awww." The Bellas cooed, making Stacie glare at them as she hung up.

Stacie shook her head at her friends in fond exasperation, even as a part of her worried about Aubrey. After all, from the very first time they had spent the night together, Aubrey made it a point to wake Stacie up if she was leaving. Note or not, Aubrey always made sure she told Stacie where she was going, and that Stacie wouldn't wake up to an empty bed wondering where Aubrey was.

And that concern was nothing compared to her worry over Aubrey's well-being; she knew Aubrey's job was a highly-demanding, highly-stressful job, but she hadn't considered the possibility that because she now traveled less meant that when she did, it would be to high-stakes meetings that required planning meetings and briefings on weekends. And Aubrey had always been weary of her job, often declared it tiring, but she'd never actually said, or agreed out loud, that it sucked.

"Hey."

Stacie turned, and saw Beca leaning over the back of the couch, concern written all over her features.

"Are you okay?" Beca asked softly.

Stacie forced a weak smile. "Yeah. I'm fine."

Beca's gaze flickered briefly to the phone in Stacie's hand, and asked, "Aubrey?"

"Nevada."

Beca frowned. "Vegas?"

"Off-Vegas."

"There's more to Nevada than Vegas?" Beca asked, confused.

"I know, right?" Stacie smiled at her friend. "Hey, would you mind if I asked Aubrey to come over for semis?"

Beca's brow furrowed. "Why would I mind?"

"I don't know. She might have… opinions, on our set." Stacie hedged. She doubted Aubrey would actually say anything even if she did, but she wanted to get Beca on her side first.

Beca frowned, worried. "What's wrong with our set?"

"Nothing!" Stacie said hurriedly. "I just… I want to make sure you'll be okay with it."

"If this is about that thing from Valentine's, I apologized." Beca said quickly. She had cornered Aubrey on her way out that time, and it had actually been more of a mumbled apology that Aubrey just sighed and waved off; but they had been somewhat more civil the last time Aubrey had been in town. Beca figured that she and Aubrey had an understanding: they didn't do heart-to-hearts or long-winded confessions.

"Yeah, I know, I mean more like, as former captain and everything."

"You know?" Beca asked, surprised.

Stacie frowned at her. "Yeah, she told me."

Beca blinked. Okay, so clearly Aubrey and Stacie really did do more than just make out at every given opportunity and actually _talked_. She shuddered, suddenly remembering the image of the two of them going at it in the kitchen, and shook her head in an attempt to clear the visual away. "No, yeah, it's fine. It's cool. She's stricter with the breakdowns anyway, that might actually help."

"Cool." Stacie smiled. "Thanks, Beca."

Beca smiled back, but it faded as she asked, "What's in Nevada?"

The thing was, Stacie actually had no idea. Because Aubrey's job was riddled with confidentiality clauses and she made it a point not to burden Stacie with details about her job, especially since Stacie, having been exposed to a little of Aubrey's corporate world, would understand at least part of what her job entailed.

It didn't help that they had already fallen into the very thing Stacie had been wary of, that she was a girl waiting for a phone call. The daily text messages, for obvious reasons, didn't quite have the same impact and resonance of actually having a conversation, of hearing Aubrey's voice.

Stacie was in the kitchen working on her homework in the early hours of morning when she decided to try and send a message to Aubrey.

The phone call came in a second later.

"Why are you still awake?" Aubrey asked.

"Why are you?" Stacie returned.

Aubrey sighed. "I have to finish a report before I have to take a flight in a few hours."

"Babe." Stacie said, in mild reprimand.

"I know." Aubrey exhaled. "So what's your excuse?"

"Homework."

"I miss homework." Aubrey mused wistfully. There was a pause on Aubrey's end before she asked, "How are you? How are rehearsals for the semis?"

"I'm okay. I thought this chapter would be easier, but I think I've figured it out." Stacie admitted. "And we're going to crush it at the semis, so you better make plans for when the Bellas get to New York."

Aubrey chuckled softly. "Yeah? Anything in particular I should be planning there, Anastasia?"

Stacie wanted to play coy, maybe even tease Aubrey a little about the possibilities of the two of them in New York, but all she could say was, "I just want to see you."

"You're seeing me in a few weeks." Aubrey reminded.

"Yeah, but for how long? At least if you're in New York when we're there for the finals you can pretend you have an ear infection and can't fly." Stacie pointed out.

"Sounds like a plan."

"I know how much you love plans."

"Yeah." Aubrey was quiet for a moment, before she broached, "How do you feel about San José del Cabo?"

"Is that like Cabo San Lucas?"

"It's like the next town."

Stacie smiled. "Spring break?"

"Are you in?"

"Hell yeah, I'm in. Are you sure you can take that time off?"

"I have a ton of overtime I can use as vacation time. And I already told them, so they've been warned."

Stacie grinned. "Just you and me?"

"And a bunch of tourists, but hopefully they'll mostly be in Cabo San Lucas instead."

"Aubrey?"

"Yeah?"

"Why are they making you travel so late?"

"Actually they're making me travel early." Aubrey corrected. "And it's so that I'll be there first thing, I can do what needs to be done and be back in New York by end of day." She chuckled dryly. "But it could be worse: once we had to fly out to start the business day in California, troubleshoot in Texas, and be in Florida for an evening seminar. That was a really crappy day."

Despite herself, Stacie had to smile, because she knew exactly what was driving Aubrey and why she didn't balk at the insane demands her job wanted from her. "You love it."

"I like getting things done, yeah." Aubrey admitted. She fell silent, before quietly adding, "But it doesn't always feel like that."

Stacie grumbled, "You need an assistant."

"I'm Head Office Bitch, Stacie." Aubrey reminded gently. "I _am_ the assistant."

"You know that's not what that title means, right?"

"It applies anyway."

"I'm sorry, baby."

"Yeah." Aubrey conceded. She sighed again. "I have to finish this thing, but I'll call you tomorrow?"

"Okay." Stacie answered, although she was pretty sure she would be waiting for a phone call that wasn't going to come, replaced instead with a late-night text message wishing her good night. "Text me when your plane lands?"

"You'll be in class."

"Text me anyway."

"Then I will." Aubrey replied. "Get some sleep, Stacie."

"You too, Bree." Stacie returned. "I love you."

"Love you too."

They hadn't meant to, but the phone call set a pattern in their relationship, the two of them trading text messages and playing phone tag between them, having more of a relationship with each other's voice mail than with each other. Stacie was deep in rehearsals, preparing up to two different sets in case their competition at semifinals somehow managed set similar to their own, while Aubrey was busy with work.

Stacie was just grateful the Bellas all liked each other and Beca and Chloe were a formidable partnership as their co-captains, because one Tuesday morning, disaster struck.

Beca paced the length of their living room while the rest of the Bellas gathered around Jessica's laptop, watching a video of a recent performance by their semifinal rival from Nashville, and Stacie had to admit, it didn't look good.

"They have four sets that use three of the songs we already have." Beca muttered to herself, but loudly enough for her teammates to hear.

"Maybe they won't use any of those sets." Fat Amy offered.

"They have it on their arsenal and didn't use it at their quarters," Chloe reminded. "They're gonna use one of them."

Beca wrung her hands, because there was only one clear solution, but she wasn't sure if they had enough time for her to create the mix to her standards, break it down, rehearse it, and create choreography for it. "We have to work with this."

"What, we're going to have three sets?" Cynthia Rose asked dryly.

"Yes." Both Beca and Chloe declared.

The Bellas all glanced at each other, wary.

"It's insane." Stacie told Aubrey later that night, when Aubrey called after a day of exchanged text messages.

"It's playing it safe." Aubrey corrected. "If their sets with those songs really are as good as you say they are, they really won't miss the opportunity to show it off in competition."

Stacie frowned. "You think so?"

"It's what I would do." Aubrey admitted. After a pause, she added, "If, you know, I had a set I didn't just borrow from the captain before me who drilled into me how much I screwed up a set that would have won her the championship."

"Bree."

"But originality counts for so much in the judging. Unless you go first, you're going to need backups."

Stacie made a face. "I guess."

"But I actually didn't call you to talk about semifinals." Aubrey told her. She took a deep breath. "I'm going to North Carolina this weekend, I would like it if you could come and meet me there."

Stacie wrinkled her brow at the somewhat formality of the invitation. "North Carolina?"

"Yes."

"What's in North Carolina?"

"Um, me?" Aubrey asked, suddenly hesitant with the less-than-enthused reception to her invitation.

"Aubrey, I can't just skip rehearsal if the reason I'm giving is to see you."

Aubrey exhaled. "I have a meeting on Friday afternoon and Monday morning, so I have to stay for the weekend."

"You're still doing meetings?"

"Yeah," Aubrey groaned. "The newly-appointed liaison between Oversight and our regional clients has been having problems with the communication thread. And because I had so much face time with our clients, I have to formally introduce her to them so they know I have her back."

"Oh."

"So? Raleigh? There's a country fair just a little up north I think you'll like."

Stacie frowned, confused. "What about me spells 'country fair'?"

"Okay, it's a beer and barbecue tour," Aubrey amended. "I'll even promise to not say a word if you use a fake ID. Just, please?"

Stacie glanced over to the other side of her room, at the mess that was Chloe's bed, which was still empty despite the late hour because she and Cynthia Rose were working with Beca to come up with a new shortlist of songs for their new set. "I don't know, Aubrey, we have to get our sets down so we can concentrate on learning the new one."

"Stacie."

"I'll try, okay? But I can't promise anything."

"Even just for one day?"

"Aubrey, I can't flake out on the Bellas when we might be screwed for semis." Stacie reminded. "You understand that, don't you?"

"I do. I know, I do, I get it. But I'm asking you for this one thing, Stacie."

"And I said I'll try."

The answer when it came was an abrupt, "Yeah."

"Aubrey." Stacie tried to cajole a warmer response, but she knew Aubrey wasn't going to hear it. "I promise I'll try, okay?"

She could practically imagine just how badly Aubrey was being forced to respond in a genial tone, but she _definitely_ heard the defeated, "Please try."

Stacie hated the team from Nashville. "I'll call you."

"Okay." Aubrey sighed, and her voice was remarkably gentler when she added, "I love you."

Stacie nodded, even though she knew Aubrey couldn't see her, and hoped her words conveyed just how much she meant them. "I love you too."

And let it not be said that Stacie wasn't pulling her weight in the relationship, as she hounded Beca into coming up with a decent mix in the days that followed, hoping they had a working idea of what their backup-to-their-backup set would involve, since she could start coming up with ideas for choreography if they had a rough version of Beca's set list.

Beca groaned, dropping her head onto her laptop's keyboard, when she saw Stacie heading up the steps to the loft she shared with Fat Amy. "I don't have anything yet!"

"You have less than a week!"

"I know!" Beca shot back. "I know everyone thinks I'm really good at this and I work on these mixes all the time, but I don't just pull them out of my ass, Stacie."

"I hope so, because I'm never borrowing another one of your flash drives if that's the case." Stacie sat down on Fat Amy's bed and looked at Beca. "Will we be ready by semis?"

"We're good with one set, and you almost have choreography down with Plan B, so we need this one and depending how semis go, we might have two sets ready for finals."

Stacie exhaled. "Aubrey wants me to see her in Carolina this weekend."

Beca paused, and winced. "Stacie…"

"I've barely seen her in weeks, Beca."

"According to Chloe, and the way you locked her out a few weeks ago—"

"You know what I mean. She was barely here before she suddenly had to leave last time."

"Yeah, but…" Beca sighed. "Talk to Chloe. If she thinks we're okay for the weekend, you can go. But honestly…"

Stacie knew what Beca wasn't willing to say. "We're running behind."

"Just a little."

Stacie smiled grimly, and nodded in resignation.

Beca wanted to say something reassuring, but she knew Stacie had only approached her to try and attain some kind of approval to leave straight from the Bellas' captain. As much as Beca wanted to tell her friend to go and see Aubrey, having seen the decline in Stacie's spirits in the weeks since Aubrey left for Nevada, she knew they couldn't afford to miss a single day of rehearsal from that point forward. "I'm sorry, Stacie."


	30. Chapter 30

"Stacie. Drop the phone, we're starting." Chloe told Stacie as she passed the other girl on her way to the middle of their rehearsal space.

Stacie glanced at the screen on her phone one last time before she placed her phone in her bag and joining the rest of the Bellas where their chairs were gathered for rehearsals. She and her phone have been practically inseparable since Friday morning, when she had sent Aubrey her regrets that she wouldn't be able to leave Barden, even for a day, because the Bellas had to prepare two different backup performances for semifinals in the event one of their rivals used any of the songs in their pre-existing set, and Aubrey's response to the apology and explanation had been a blunt and succinct "K."

She knew it was unfair. She knew there was more to Aubrey's invitation than just revisiting the earlier nature of their relationship and hooking up in a hotel room out of state because Aubrey was in the region and Stacie didn't want to pass up an opportunity to spend a few hours with the other girl. She knew Aubrey wasn't pleased about Stacie being unavailable to travel, or the fact that the Bellas didn't have an arsenal of backup numbers readily available in case of an emergency, and Stacie was honestly a little ticked off about the fact that Aubrey wouldn't even confront her about it.

Stacie didn't know if reiterating to Aubrey the state of things with the Bellas' semifinals preparation as her reason for not traveling had been a major or minor factor in Aubrey's reticence to answer calls or messages, but ever since she told Aubrey she couldn't make the trip, Aubrey's text replies to Stacie's messages had been simple sentences that indicated very little as to how Aubrey may have felt about her plans for the weekend falling apart.

But Stacie had tried. She had attempted to help Beca to narrow down her shortlist of songs, she had offered to help Chloe simplify the choreography to their existing backup set and make it easier to master, she had even tried to bribe her fellow Bellas into extending their rehearsals to possibly offset weekend rehearsals, but had been denied. And she had tried to explain all of that to Aubrey through text messages, but Aubrey only responded to those with: "It's fine."

It wasn't, but Stacie didn't know how to fix it without flying to North Carolina and explaining everything in person, which was the very thing she _couldn't_ do.

But Stacie's concern gave way to confusion when her inquiry as to how the beer and barbecue tour Aubrey had originally planned to go to went was answered with: "We didn't go. Drove north instead. How were rehearsals?"

 _"We"?_

The only person Stacie knew who would be with Aubrey was the regional liaison who was shadowing Aubrey to meet the clients who had all grown accustomed to dealing with Aubrey. Aubrey had not previously indicated any kind of communication with the liaison, so to be taken into consideration in a response regarding her day?

Stacie barely held back the bitter jealousy that she wanted to unleash via text message questioning Aubrey about her choice of pronouns, because she didn't want to confront Aubrey when there was little to really confront her about.

And what was up north?

"Do we need to talk about this now?" Aubrey asked, and Stacie could practically imagine the annoyance all the way from Aubrey's end of the line.

"I want to know how your weekend's going." Stacie feigned nonchalance, hoping Aubrey wouldn't pick up on the fact that she was fishing for details. It was late on Saturday night, and the Bellas were staying in to finish their schoolwork in preparation for the full day of rehearsals they were scheduled to have the next day, and Stacie was just grateful Chloe wasn't in the room while she bore the brunt of Aubrey's annoyance during their phone call.

"My weekend that you couldn't take a couple of hours of to join me in?"

Okay, clearly Aubrey wasn't in the mood for some mild flirtation and coy queries. "Aubrey."

"Stacie. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'd like to think I don't ask a lot from you. And I asked you for this one thing."

"And I told you why I couldn't go."

Aubrey exhaled, because they both knew that the part of her that was a Bella and had once been the captain of the Barden Bellas agreed with Stacie's reasons. "Fine. If you must know, my mom and grandparents live a few miles from Raleigh. I wasn't sure if I'd have time to really make the drive for the weekend, or if they could come down, so I didn't tell you. But I did, so I made the drive."

Stacie felt her heart drop at the admission, and every part of her wanted to go back in time and make sure she made the trip. Stacie had no idea her voice could be as faint as it was when she repeated, "Your mom?"

"And grandparents. And George."

Momentarily distracted from her remorse, Stacie allowed herself to be a little confused. "Who's George?"

"The dog."

Aubrey's dog, who she owned only by name and was under the care of her grandparents. Who Aubrey had wanted Stacie to meet. "If I'd known it was important…"

"Me asking you for something – _anything_ – doesn't qualify as important?" Aubrey asked quietly.

"I didn't—" Stacie took a deep breath. "I didn't know. I'm sorry."

"Yeah, me too." Aubrey replied. "How are rehearsals?"

"No, we need to talk about this. I really am sorry, Aubrey."

"You've said."

"Aubrey."

"What do you want me to say, Stacie? This mattered to me. I practically _begged_ you to make the trip. I wanted to see you, and I wanted them to meet you, and…" the shaky breath Aubrey took reverberated through the line, and Stacie's eyes fluttered shut at the sound. "You have tickets to fly anywhere, and there are direct flights between Atlanta and Raleigh. I wasn't asking you to take a five-hour bus ride. I wasn't even asking you for the whole weekend. So I'm sorry if I'm not being very understanding right now."

"I didn't—"

"I have to go." Aubrey said suddenly, cutting her off.

Stacie opened her eyes, and glanced at the clock on her cellphone screen. "It's almost midnight."

"I know. Good night, Stacie."

Stacie sighed when Aubrey abruptly ended the call, and dropped her phone, uncaring of where it landed on her bed. She wasn't sure where she and Aubrey stood after that phone call, conflicted over the various factors of Aubrey having wanted her to meet her family, Aubrey obviously feeling bad with the belief that Stacie hadn't tried harder to make it to North Carolina, and her own feelings of being left out of so much of Aubrey's life, so much so that she hadn't even known Aubrey's mother and maternal grandparents lived in North Carolina or that her dog's name was George.

She didn't know _why_ she hadn't known all those things, since she and Aubrey talked a lot, she knew Aubrey tried to visit her grandparents as often as possible and that her mother had relocated from Aubrey's childhood home to a town closer to her own parents, and she knew Aubrey made frequent visits to North Carolina, yet for some reason Stacie had never reconciled those things as being the same thing.

She knew she had blown it. Stacie wasn't stupid. Aubrey hadn't told her as much, but her disappointment and the way she had been reluctant to discuss their situation, not to mention the fact that Aubrey couldn't even stay on the line long enough to tell her she loved her, were all very telling.

And the worst part was that Stacie didn't know what to do.

She didn't know if she was supposed to call Aubrey, and risk having another stilted phone conversation or worse; or send a text message to test the waters and come off as being not quite so sincere if the best she could do was a text.

She couldn't talk to the Bellas because she didn't want to risk accidentally saying something that Aubrey may not be willing for the Bellas to learn about. She also didn't want her own feelings of slight resentment to come out; or for the part of her that loved Aubrey to come out and possibly imply that if they had a set of prepared numbers for emergency performances, they wouldn't be on the tight schedule they were now. If the Bellas were a little better at preparation and didn't rely so much on their natural talent, she could have gone to North Carolina for a few hours and have been the perfect girlfriend that Aubrey had obviously expected her to be.

She didn't know what to do or how to start apologizing, but she knew Aubrey, and she knew that the important thing was that she apologized.

Which was why she was surprised when she answered the doorbell on Monday afternoon before she had to go to her afternoon class and found Aubrey at the door. "Aubrey."

"Hi." Aubrey smiled weakly, and hesitantly held out a small bouquet of red and white flowers out to her. "I, um, wanted to give you these. In person. And say I'm sorry."

Stacie froze, holding the bouquet, and blinked blankly at her. "You're sorry?"

"Yeah, uh," Aubrey fidgeted, glancing behind her, and back at Stacie at the open doorway. "I was being overly sensitive. A little stupid. I hedged my bets and played it safe and it backfired. I shouldn't have been so cold. I was tired, and I was hurt, but that's no excuse for how I spoke to you on the phone. I'm sorry."

"Oh. Yeah." Stacie continued to stare at her in disbelief.

Aubrey took a deep breath. "Okay." She let it out slowly, and nodded. "I'm really sorry, Stacie. I wish I could change it, but—"

"I'm sorry." Stacie blurted out, cutting her off, which if she'd been thinking clearly probably wasn't the best idea, but she was internally panicking. "I wanted to go, Aubrey, I swear, but I couldn't. But I could have played hooky, I could have… I don't know, done something, _anything_ , to have gone. But I didn't know, I didn't _know_ , and I—" She stopped, and shook her head. "I would have done anything to have met your mom. And your grandparents. And your dog that isn't really yours." Stacie paled suddenly. "Do they hate me now? Do they think I'm a flake and some kind of vacuous girl who doesn't meet the family, because I-"

"I love you." Aubrey suddenly said, cutting off the rest of Stacie's panicked ramble, making Stacie once again stare at her in frozen silence. She lowered her gaze briefly before she looked back up at Stacie. "I didn't say it, the last time we talked, and it didn't feel right to just send it by text, or to call, because I wanted to see you, I wanted to look you in the eye and say it, and to tell you I'm sorry I didn't say it last time. It was petty, and it was mean, and I moved my meetings this afternoon to earlier this morning so I can come down to Barden, and tell you I love you."

Stacie figured she was well ahead of the curve for her class anyway and she'd done the readings, which was why she tossed the bouquet over in the direction of the stairs that overlooked their entryway, and grabbed Aubrey by her jacket to pull her close. She stopped short of their lips meeting to share, "I love you too," before closing the gap between them.

It was only after they had migrated from the entryway – making Aubrey send a silent apology to the Bellas who have come before for sins committed against the door, literally – to the living room when Aubrey finally wondered, "where's everyone?"

"Class." Stacie took hold of Aubrey's wrist to check her watch, and sighed. "And rehearsals in twenty minutes." She pecked Aubrey's lips as she asked, "Are you staying?"

"Can't. I have to be back for a full day of meetings tomorrow." Aubrey admitted, sitting up, and making Stacie move back to let her. She grabbed her shirt from the arm of the couch they were on and pulled it on. "I'm not even supposed to be here."

Stacie smiled. "I'm glad you are."

Aubrey paused her process of getting redressed to smile and give Stacie a quick kiss. "Me too."

"I'm sorry about North Carolina."

Aubrey smiled wryly. "Maybe next time."

"Should I just be glad that there's going to be a next time?"

That seemed to give Aubrey pause, and she frowned at Stacie. "Stacie, it's not like you _wanted_ to leave me high and dry in meeting my family."

"You were angry."

"I was disappointed." Aubrey corrected. "I mean, yes, I admit, I veered towards anger for a few minutes, but it's not something worth losing you over."

Stacie smiled faintly. "Good. I'm glad." She shrugged, idly tangling the thin necklace around Aubrey's neck with her index finger. "I really wanted to meet George."

"Just George?" Aubrey teased with amusement, as she traced a line down Stacie's neck. "You do know he's the one that bites, right?"

Stacie chuckled, and leaned in to press another kiss on Aubrey's lips. "I can skip rehearsals."

Aubrey made a face. "I don't think that's the best thing to say to the girlfriend you couldn't ditch rehearsals to come and visit not two days ago."

Stacie smiled sheepishly, and nodded. "Walk me to the gym?"

Aubrey fixed her hair, sweeping it up into a messy bun on top of her head, and smiled at Stacie. "My cab's actually waiting, so… Okay."

"Seriously?"

"I kind of have to get to the airport soon." Aubrey admitted.

"So you're not sticking around to see how our set is going?"

"No." Aubrey shook her head.

"Why not?" Stacie pouted.

"Because on Friday night I want to watch your set and be your girlfriend cheering you on." Aubrey answered. "I don't want to be the Bellas' former captain analyzing changes you made and thinking about the songs you chose."

Stacie nodded, but couldn't help but note, "Beca said you could help with breakdowns."

Aubrey laughed softly, and shook her head. "Or I can watch you on Friday and focus on how talented my girlfriend is."

"Yeah?" Stacie asked, quirking an eyebrow. "I mean, sure, _maybe_ she's talented, but how hot can this girlfriend of yours really be, anyway?"

Aubrey laughed. "Not really, but I love her anyway."

Stacie gasped in affront, pushing her away. "Take that back!"

"I mean, she's ridiculously smart, and really funny, but a bit of an eyesore." Aubrey continued as they both searched for their shoes.

"I put out! I just gave you orgasms!" Stacie protested.

"Good in bed, but good-looking? No."

Stacie pointed at her accusingly. "I'm never sleeping with you again."

"And so many useless threats." Aubrey added.

Stacie rolled her eyes. "I'm only sleeping with you because of the multiple orgasms, you know that, right?"

"I know." Aubrey replied flatly, picking up her bag from the foyer and leading Stacie outside. She had left her overnight bag in the car, but she wasn't about to leave her laptop bag unattended. She glanced at the car waiting for her on the curb, and turned back to Stacie, her expression losing her previous mirth to gaze seriously at the taller girl. "And you're very beautiful."

Stacie tilted her head slightly in question.

"I don't know if I tell you that enough." Aubrey said softly.

Stacie gazed at her, a little confused. "Why are you being weird?"

Aubrey frowned. "I'm not being weird."

"You wanted me to see you so I could meet your mom and grandparents? You ditch work to show up at my doorstep?" Stacie reminded. "We had sex where any of the Bellas could have walked in on us. And now there are spontaneous proclamations of love?" Stacie asked. "I took a total of two Psych classes because they're required, but I _have_ watched a lot of TV, so I'm gonna ask, what's going on, Aubrey?"

Aubrey stared at her for a long moment, and then shook her head. "What are you… Nothing's going on."

"Are you sure?"

"Nothing more than usual." Aubrey assured her.

Stacie chuckled wryly as they walked to the waiting car. "What even is our usual, anymore?"

Aubrey gave her a weak smile. "I don't really know."

But of course Stacie couldn't help herself, and as the car moved closer to gym the Bellas used as their rehearsal space, she glanced at Aubrey. "Why did you say 'we'?"

Aubrey glanced at her questioningly. "Excuse me?"

"The other night, when I asked if you went to the beer tour, you said 'we' went up north. Who's 'we'?"

Aubrey furrowed her brow, confused, as she asked, "You mean Kathryn?"

"Kathryn?" Stacie echoed.

"Our liaison?" Aubrey reminded. "Her family lives in the same town as my grandparents."

"Oh. So you grew up together?"

"No." Aubrey shot her a look of utter confusion.

Stacie tapped her fingernails against the car door, and carefully regarded Aubrey. "Do you know her very well?"

Aubrey frowned, shrugging. "I've known her since Chicago. I guess we're friendly."

When she saw Aubrey frown, Stacie knew she had to start treading lightly, because the last thing she wanted was to ruin what they had spent the past hour fixing. Briefly looking out the window, Stacie bit back the rest of her questions, before she glanced back over at Aubrey. "Is she nice?"

"She's…" Aubrey rolled her eyes. "Forceful. Opinionated. She says they used to move around a lot, so she's always trying to prove herself, which hasn't always worked out. I won't say she's nice, but she can be if she really wanted to."

Stacie arched an eyebrow. "And was she nice to you?"

Aubrey scoffed. "I'm the key to making her job simpler and easier; _of course_ she was nice to me."

"Do you like her?"

Aubrey exhaled, shrugging once more. "She and the rest of the regional liaisons are supposed to make my job easier, but so far clients haven't been so willing to no longer be in direct communication with Oversight for their concerns. The southeast has been the most reticent to the new system, and, I don't know, maybe it's because she's younger than our other liaisons – which is the same problem I had, and she's older than me – or they know she's a transplant." She glanced at Stacie, sighed, and admitted, "She's one bad deal away from losing this job, that's why they made me come up and reassure clients she really does have the full support of Oversight and Operations."

Stacie frowned. "That's terrible."

"I know." Aubrey agreed. "Now it feels like I'm responsible for her keeping her job, and…" she made a face. "It's one thing to have to fire an entire workforce when they're just numbers on a sheet; it's another thing when you have to work with someone and be part of the deciding factors on whether or not they get to keep their job."

Stacie realized at that moment that she really needed to start thinking these things through, because not only was Aubrey not just another person she was dating, a random hookup that lasted a little longer than expected; Aubrey had a life, and a job, and had expectations upon her that went beyond getting good grades or getting her next paycheck – companies relied on what she did, people and their jobs relied on her doing her job well.

And the only things she considered more important than all of that was to make sure she could look Stacie in the eye while she said her apology, and to tell her she loved her.

Stacie reached out, and squeezed Aubrey's hand. "I'll see you on Friday?"


	31. Chapter 31

It took a while, but Stacie finally found the words to put together the jumbled thoughts that messed with her head and the tumult of emotions that coursed through her.

And all it took was Chloe to ask, high off the thrill of victory after a stressful week and completely without guile, "Where's Aubrey?"

The question Stacie had been wondering since earlier that day, before the Barden Bellas left for the theater hosting the ICCA semifinals, before the program started, before the Bellas took the stage before their Nashville rivals making their two backup sets unnecessary, and before the winners and finalists were announced. And the answer was the same.

"She isn't here." Stacie said softly, as they made their way to their bus to head back to campus. She noticed, but didn't address, the way the other girls all glanced at each other in concern, somewhat dampening their buoyant spirits after pulling off an easy win after the rigorous rehearsals they had endured the past week. She checked her phone, despite knowing it would show the exact same thing it had for the past three hours, which was absolutely nothing.

Chloe frowned, but her attention was drawn away to their bus, and Stacie followed her gaze to where Beca stood with Jesse, apparently engaged in a heated conversation, if their body language was anything to go by. Beca had her arms crossed defensively, while Jesse held a bouquet of flowers, trying to make her take it from his hands while she vehemently rejected that move and hissed something at him, the both of them oblivious to the approaching Bellas.

Stacie felt herself resenting the other couple, that Jesse was still in school with them and didn't have to do any scheduling gymnastics just to find time to be with his girlfriend, and even made the very real, very obvious effort to travel to watch his girlfriend own her semifinals performance and earn another berth at the ICCA Finals. And resented Beca for taking that for granted.

Hell, he even had flowers, and she was rejecting it.

Chloe cleared her throat, and Stacie resented her too, because _Chloe_ had a front-row seat to Beca carrying on her relationship with Jesse, and she _still_ opted to stay in college just to spend more time with Beca.

When neither Beca nor Jesse seemed to take notice of the Bellas, Chloe cleared her throat again, louder this time, not even trying for subtlety. And that seemed to catch the couple's attention, as they both turned to face the Bellas, Beca looking like a deer caught in headlights while Jesse – unsuccessfully – tried to hide the bouquet of flowers behind his back.

Which was weird in and of itself, but then they both shot a quick look at Stacie, and the tall brunette felt herself stiffen in defense, a creeping dread making itself known, and she braced herself for the information she suspected she already knew.

"What's going on?" Chloe asked curiously.

Jesse hesitated, glancing quickly at Beca, whose gaze stayed on the ground for a long time before she looked up at Stacie reluctantly. Beca opened her mouth, caught herself, and then glanced at Jesse.

"Are we really not going to ask why Jesse's trying to hide a bunch of flowers?" Fat Amy wondered aloud, breaking the impasse.

Beca sighed, while Jesse faltered at his obvious lack of finesse. He held the flowers in front of him, and approached Stacie.

"You know your girlfriend's _right there_ ," Denise pointed out.

Jesse gave her a long-suffering look, and held the flowers out to Stacie, who just stared at him even as he said, "This is for you."

Beca fidgeted, unsure of just how to proceed, while everyone else watched the tableau with utmost confusion and just a dash of morbid curiosity.

"Card!" Ashley coughed loudly, ducking quickly behind Jessica.

Stacie glanced in that direction briefly, before turning back to the flowers Jesse still held between them, and hesitantly took the card tucked into the arrangement.

Well, it was as he'd said: it was addressed to her name, making the flowers hers.

And it was in Aubrey's handwriting.

"Wait." Stacie blurted out, looking at Jesse in question. "Was she here?"

Jesse hesitated, but reluctantly admitted, "I don't know."

"Jesse." Chloe said in reproach. She knew nobody liked being the bearer of bad news, but surely Jesse couldn't be _that_ concerned about the wrath of a woman left with just a bunch of flowers, right?

"I don't know." Jesse repeated. "It was at the ticket counter when I claimed the ticket Beca left for me. The guy said he was instructed to give it to me. Had my name and everything." He paused thoughtfully. "And my phone number, but I'm not sure why he has it…"

"Focus." Chloe reminded.

"Right." Jesse snapped out of it, and nodded at Chloe in acknowledgment before he realized Stacie still hadn't taken the flowers. He smiled awkwardly. "Are you gonna take these, or…?"

Stacie's brow knit, perplexed, her hands reflexively curling into fists and she looked up at Jesse. "I'm hot, right?"

Jesse's eyes widened in panic.

"Never mind." She shook her head, and she glanced at each of her fellow Bellas, gauging her audience, until finally she turned and looked at Chloe. "Why is she like this?"

Chloe, for her part, seemed reluctant to actually answer that question, rhetorical or not. "Stacie…"

"You know what? Never mind. I don't care." Stacie closed her eyes and shook her head, as if discarding whatever it had been she had been thinking about. She took a deep breath, held it, and exhaled slowly, trying to find calm and centering herself against the turbulent emotions she felt. When she opened her eyes once more, there was a look of fierce determination in them that took her friends aback. She roughly grabbed the flowers from Jesse. "Her loss. Party?"

There was an awkward current that ran through Stacie's fellow Barden Bellas, because that kind of emotional 180-degree turn was not only not natural, they also all knew that as concerned as they were, trying to prevent Stacie from getting what she wanted wasn't advisable.

Chloe looked at Stacie for a moment with worry, but turned to Jesse with a smile. "Deal's on, right?"

Jesse wasn't sure what was happening, but at least he wasn't in the middle of the most awkward tableau he'd ever been a part of – and he wasn't even the one who made a mistake. He blinked, and looked at Chloe, trying to remember what she was talking about, before he recalled the deal the Treblemakers and the Bellas made, that they would throw each other victory parties for their individual semifinals. He smiled in relief. That one, at least, he saw coming. "Yeah. All set."

"Yeah! Party!" Stacie exclaimed, with an almost manic cheer, forcing her friends to echo the sentiment, if with a hint of wariness.

Luckily, they had Flo and Fat Amy, who could be relied upon to reinforce cheer and enthusiasm even under the most dire of situations.

"Party!" Fat Amy yelled, and the girls all got on the bus, leaving Beca, Chloe and Jesse outside.

Jesse still looked confused. "What just happened?"

"Don't worry about it." Chloe assured him. "But make sure there's lots of tequila. Like, lots."

Jesse frowned at her as she entered the van, finally leaving him with Beca.

Beca sighed. "I know I said I'd ride with you back, but…"

"They need you." Jesse finished for her, nodding in understanding. "That's okay, I can get more supplies." He smiled wryly. "Like a lot of tequila."

Beca returned his smile with one of her own. "Don't get carded."

He shrugged. He grinned at her. "You'd bail me out, right?"

"I'd leave you there."

They said their goodbyes, and Beca faced the door of the Bellas' van with just a touch of trepidation, worried about Stacie and the upcoming combination of an emotionally-turbulent Stacie Conrad and a ton of alcohol. All that, and with the undeniable high of winning semis and once more making it to the finals of the ICCAs, Beca knew from last year's experience that all kinds of hijinks were bound to ensue, and Beca sent a silent prayer to whichever deities were listening that all the Bellas would come out unscathed at the end of the night.

Which, judging from the morning after, made Beca feel like maybe she should pick a deity and focus her prayers, because she was reminded why cheap alcohol and social media were the work of the devil.

The few Bellas who were already awake – Ashley, Flo, Denise, and Lilly – were all gathered around the kitchen counter, each one looking at their phones. When they noticed Beca, they all just nodded and turned back to their phones.

"What's happening?" Beca asked, groggily making her way to the fridge for some water.

The girls glanced at each other.

She felt the sudden impulse to hate everything. Beca frowned at them. "What?"

Lilly sauntered over, and handed Beca her phone, showing her the feed from the previous night's celebrations.

At first she wasn't sure what she was really seeing, given how cellphone pictures at parties were kind of a given around Barden, but then she realized what she was supposed to be looking at. Beca was instantly awake, going through it and torn between utmost relief – there was nothing explicit, nothing too incriminating, nothing that should be cause for alarm – but there was also the part that worried, because while there were just a bunch of pictures of a party going on, it was hard to avoid just how many included Stacie dancing with different people. "Does Chloe know about this?"

"She's still in her room."

Beca closed her eyes in relief, since Chloe usually got her cup of coffee first thing before she did anything else for the day, including checking her phone for her social media feeds. But that wasn't nearly enough of a reassurance, just a temporary one, and Beca forced herself to remain calm, not knowing how Chloe - who for all her strained relationship with Aubrey, was still Aubrey's best friend, and four years of friendship overruled any roommate agreement - would react to the pictures. She took a deep breath, and decided her first order of business had to be damage control. "Where's Stacie?"

"I think she crashed in her old room." Denise said. "I heard a noise there this morning."

Beca frowned, puzzled, as she had no idea what Stacie could have used in lieu of a bed considering Stacie's old room contained nothing but racks and boxes of their costumes. But still, she grabbed a bottle of water and made her way back up the stairs to their costume closet.

And, true enough, Stacie lay there, apparently having found a sleeping bag from somewhere and using it for the night.

Beca sighed heavily, especially when she saw the cellphone that was mere inches from Stacie's right hand, and the crumpled piece of paper in her left.

This wasn't going to be pretty.

Beca turned quickly when she heard the door to Chloe and Stacie's room open.

Chloe looked troubled, and her features only grew more concerned when she sighted Beca. "Have you seen Stacie?"

Beca nodded, and indicated the room she was standing in front of.

When Chloe peeked in, she breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank the aca-gods." And then frowned, realizing what she was looking at. "Why didn't she stay in our room?"

"I think she was too drunk to remember this wasn't her room anymore." Beca admitted. "Did you know we had a sleeping bag in here?"

"Yeah, Penny used to haze us by making us camp out in the middle of nowhere with just a sleeping bag and a utility knife."

"What?"

"Did you know Aubrey knows how to make fire without matches? It's pretty aca-awesome."

Beca looked at her, confused, but shook her head before motioning to the sleeping brunette on the floor. "Do you think she's okay?"

Chloe sighed. "The pictures don't look good."

Beca turned to her in alarm.

"It's weird how everybody's suddenly asking me if she's available again." Chloe noted. "It's like people take dancing with a bunch of other people as a sign."

Beca groaned, covered her eyes with her hand. "Damn."

"Yeah."

"Has Aubrey—"

"I don't know." Chloe admitted.

"Okay." Beca sighed, and glanced back into the room at the girl sleeping on the floor. "What are we doing about this?"

Chloe glanced at the still-sleeping Stacie, and sighed. "Let's get her to her bed? I'll try looking for Aubrey."

While they struggled to bring Stacie to her current room to lie down on a proper bed, she insisted to Beca that she was "totally undrunk anymore" and had only danced with "like two, maybe three" other people. And, she maintained, it was "totally just" dancing, not like she was "off liaising" with total strangers.

Beca had no idea what exactly was happening, but she could take a few guesses. Especially when Chloe finally got through Aubrey's phone.

"Hello?"

Chloe's brow furrowed at the unfamiliar voice, and glanced quickly at Beca, the closed door, and finally at the half-asleep Stacie. "Hi, I'm looking for Aubrey Posen?"

"What? Oh." There was a scuffle, and an audible, "My bad. It's your phone."

After a few seconds, Aubrey's tired voice came through the line. "Chloe, I know, I'm sorry, but—"

"Who was that?" Chloe blurted out. "And why is she answering your phone?"

"Kathryn thought it was her phone. Company-issued. They all look the same."

Chloe didn't care. "Who the hell is Kathryn?"

"Kathryn?" Beca echoed.

"She's with Kathryn?" Stacie asked, sitting up on her bed.

"Where are you?" Chloe demanded.

"At work." Aubrey answered.

"Aubrey…"

"Aubrey, let's go." Came through loud and clear from Aubrey's side of the call.

Aubrey sighed. "I'll call you back, Chloe."

"You should call _your girlfriend_."

"Chloe, don't start."

"Aubrey!"

"I'll call back." Aubrey said abruptly, before hanging up.

Chloe pulled the phone away from her ear, staring at it in betrayal. _Did Aubrey just-?_

Beca looked at Chloe, then to Stacie, and back. "Who's Kathryn?"

Chloe shook her head to indicate she didn't know, but Stacie muttered, "The liaison to the southeastern region."

 _Oh._ Beca now understood what Stacie meant by someone _liaising_ with— wait. She turned to Chloe. "What's going on?"

"I know as much as you do." Chloe answered.

"You're not stupid, either of you." Stacie told them. "I know you like Aubrey, we all do, but let's face facts."

"Stacie…" Chloe began hesitantly.

"Don't even, Chloe." Stacie glared at her. "You can't avoid me and my relationship when you want to and suddenly decide you get to have a say in it. And she's your best friend, of course you're on her side."

"We don't know what her side _is_ ," Chloe reminded.

"Stacie, you're hungover, maybe you shouldn't—" Beca began, but Chloe apparently wasn't finished.

"It doesn't look good, I know, but you're not exactly guilt-free, here." Chloe reminded.

"We were dancing!" Stacie argued.

"Are you sure you were _just_ dancing?" Chloe shot back. "Because I was at that party late, and I didn't see you when I left."

Beca's head shot to the side, looking at Stacie, who only kept glaring at Chloe. "What are you implying, Chloe?"

"Yeah, Chloe," Stacie snarked, "what are you _implying_?"

"I don't know, Stacie. But I know you left your flowers in the van and proceeded to get drunk and dance with a bunch of people to the point that we lost track of you." Chloe accused.

"I don't need you to look after me." Stacie retorted.

"Aubrey isn't here. Somebody obviously has to." Chloe told her.

"Yes! Aubrey isn't _here_." Stacie snapped. "She's in New York, or Florida, or Seattle, Nevada, who knows where. And sometimes when she isn't here she's in North Carolina with a family I didn't even know lived there, with some stupid liaison who gets to talk and see her more than I do." She threw one hand up in frustration. "The same stupid liaison Aubrey's with this early when she should have been at semis watching us win. Watching _me_. Like she said she would."

That seemed to make Chloe falter in her outrage, but Beca was the one who attempted to plea on Aubrey's behalf. "Maybe it's not as bad as you think."

"What else is it?" Stacie demanded.

Beca hesitated. "Aubrey's pretty dedicated to her job, maybe—" She stopped speaking when Stacie leveled her glare at the smaller brunette.

Whether or not it was a good thing, the ringing of Chloe's phone interrupted them, and the trio of women glanced at each other hesitantly before Chloe answered. "Bree?"

"I can't get through Stacie's phone." Aubrey's voice was much more subdued this time, and Chloe could pick up on the too-familiar thread of exhaustion in her friend's voice.

"It died last night." Chloe told her. "Are you okay?"

"I've been better." Aubrey admitted, sighing. "Congratulations on winning."

"You should have been there."

"I know." Aubrey exhaled. "Is she angry?"

"Now is not the time to understate things." Chloe hedged.

"Very angry." Aubrey concluded. "Will she talk to me?"

Chloe hesitated, and asked first: "Why didn't you call?"

"I had to stay on the line with my boss." Aubrey sighed.

"You couldn't call?" Chloe pressed.

"I don't know which part of my answer is lacking."

"You should have called."

"I know. But I couldn't."

"You swear?"

"On my Bella scarf."

"Fine." Chloe said definitively, and turned to Stacie. "She wants to talk to you."

Stacie glanced at Beca, who gave her an encouraging smile. "Will you stay?"

Beca frowned at that, because she believed relationships were private things, but she nodded anyway.

Stacie looked at Chloe. "You too?"

Chloe looked even more unsure than Beca had, but she also nodded her assent as she handed her phone over to Stacie.

Stacie took the phone, and then took a deep breath. Doing away with salutations, she asked, "Where are you?"

"Work."

"You said—"

"I know. And I tried." Aubrey told her. "But—"

"Aubrey…"

" _But_ my boss called me and told me to help the team here negotiate a deal that was going south." Aubrey continued.

"The whole night?" Stacie asked skeptically.

"Yes. They only formally agreed to terms just minutes ago." Aubrey said. "I know it's no excuse, but I really tried to be there, Stacie."

Stacie resisted the urge to laugh bitterly, considering the irony, given how just a week ago they had been on opposite sides of the same argument. "Not hard enough, obviously."

Aubrey sighed, exhausted. "What do you want me to say, Stacie? I'm sorry."

"You promised."

"I know! I know, and I'm sorry, but these things are beyond my control."

"It probably didn't hurt that Kathryn was there to _liaise_ with you and the client, did it?" Stacie retorted.

Aubrey's confusion was evident in her tone. "What does Kathryn's job have to do with anything?"

"I don't know, Aubrey!" Stacie snapped. "All I know is that you promised to be there last night and you weren't. You didn't show, you didn't call, you didn't come by last night. _Instead_ , Chloe had to call you in the morning to even know where you are. And you're telling me you spent the night in the office with this floozy you just met?"

"Please don't call her a floozy, she's not—"

"Don't defend her." Stacie cut in. "Aubrey, do you care how our semis went?"

"Of course I care." Aubrey said defensively.

"And we won, did you even know that?"

On her own bed, Chloe frowned at the seemingly innocuous question, which Beca noticed. "What?"

Chloe's eyes widened when she realized her cause for concern, and she stared at Beca in alarm.

"Going by the fact that you had a victory party, I could guess." Aubrey answered.

"A victory party you weren't there for." Stacie accused.

"Stacie." Chloe tried to get her roommate's attention, but Stacie was too angry.

So angry, in fact, that she missed the opening she had just given Aubrey.

"I saw." Aubrey said frankly.

Stacie furrowed her brow. "You 'saw'?"

Beca suddenly understood Chloe's alarm, and made cutting gestures across her neck at Stacie.

"Wait, what did you see? What are you talking about?" Stacie asked, now confused at the abrupt turn of the conversation.

"My social media accounts may be locked, Stacie, but I still track people." Aubrey said flatly. "And you obviously had fun last night."

Stacie shot a questioning look at Beca and Chloe, Beca producing her own phone and after opening the app she wanted, showed it to Stacie. Stacie looked at her, puzzled, and then down at the phone Beca had handed her. She flipped through the pictures, dread increasing with each new picture she saw, until she finally found herself croaking out, "It's not what you think."

"You honestly believe I can form a thought right now?" Aubrey returned. "I know what you're thinking, about me and Kathryn. I thought if I ignored it and proved you wrong, you'd eventually believe me and it would go away, but I guess that's not happening soon. But _this_? Why is it that your natural inclination when you're pissed off seems to be to just grind up to the first set of people you could find?"

"Don't you dare."

"Stacie, don't." Chloe tried to interrupt once more, because even if she couldn't hear a lot of Aubrey's side of the conversation, she knew Aubrey well enough to recognize the difference in her voice. The pitch, rhythm and intonation were all wrong, and she didn't want either Aubrey or Stacie to walk into a trap Aubrey had learned from her father.

Stacie didn't heed Chloe's warning. "That's not fair, Aubrey. I'm just dancing with them, nothing happened."

"Dancing really closely with a lot of people there, Stacie."

" _It's_ _a party_." Stacie reminded. "It's not my fault that _some people_ – maybe not you, but other people – would rather do the bump and grind on me than fucking liaising with someone she works with."

Stacie ignored the way Chloe buried her face in her hands and Beca let out an uncharacteristic gasp.

"For the last time, nothing is happening with me and Kathryn." Aubrey maintained her innocence, which only served to increase Stacie's ire. "But thanks for proving us both right, Stacie."

That… was not an expected response, and Stacie felt a twinge of worry about it. "What do you—"

"We knew long-distance wasn't going to be easy." Aubrey's voice was quiet, less combative, and that only made things worse. "And this? The pictures, what we're both feeling right now?"

Stacie closed her eyes in defeat, and tried to control the emotion from showing too much in her voice. "I miss you, Bree. But it's nice to feel wanted with people who are _here_ than being made promises to and you not showing."

"I tried, Stacie." Aubrey repeated, even though she recognized the futility in the repetition. "You know it's not that easy, and I'm trying my best to be good to you."

"So why isn't that good enough?"

Stacie knew instantly, from the moment the words came out of her mouth, that the question was the worst possible thing she could have said, even without the icy silence that followed from Aubrey's end of the line or Chloe's gasp from across the room.

She _knew_.

"Okay." Aubrey's voice was devoid of any emotion following the frozen silence that rose in wake of Stacie's questioned outburst. "I'm sorry you feel that way."

"No, Aubrey, wait—"

"I love you, Stacie, and I'm sorry this has been such a disappointment to you."

"No, Bree, I—" Stacie didn't know where to start. "That's not what I meant."

"It's what you _said_." Aubrey reminded. "Nothing's changed: this job, my schedule, how hard it would be for us to spend time together? You knew all of this going in." she sighed. "So figure out what you want, and don't call me until you do."


	32. Chapter 32

The silence that followed Stacie hanging up on her phone was one of the longest, most intense and awkward silences that Stacie had ever been a part of. Beca and Chloe hadn't been part of the phone conversation, but Chloe knew Aubrey well enough to know how she would have responded to the things Stacie had said, and Beca knew enough about the situation at large to fill out the blanks herself.

Still, though, she had to ask. Beca glanced at Chloe, and then at Stacie, and then shook her head. "What just happened?"

Chloe glanced at her briefly but returned her focus on Stacie, slowly reaching out to take her phone back from Stacie. Initially meeting resistance, Stacie finally relaxed her grip to let Chloe reclaim her phone.

Chloe checked the screen, confirming that the previous phone call had ended, and glanced up at Stacie. "Stacie—"

"I know." Stacie cut her off as gently as she could, her voice as soft as possible. She _knew_. She knew both she and Aubrey hadn't handled that phone conversation well, but she knew she was the one who had turned what had been a slowly-deteriorating conversation into a complete disaster. And she wasn't willing to talk about it just yet.

Beca furrowed her brow. "I'm sure if you just called and—"

"No." Both Chloe and Stacie said sharply at the same time, making them glance briefly at each other, while Beca frowned at the two of them.

Stacie fell silent, leaving Chloe to explain.

Chloe sighed. "Aubrey has two responses to pressure: to self-destruct, or to pretend she doesn't care. Calling back puts her on the defensive. Nothing good will come out of calling Aubrey now."

"But…" Beca began, but didn't really know how to continue. Based on what she'd heard from Stacie's side of the call, things hadn't been as rosy between her two friends as she had assumed it to be. Then again, she'd seen Aubrey's face when the older girl had left for Nevada weeks ago, and she hadn't been able to stay long enough to watch rehearsals when she had briefly visited last Monday.

And belatedly realized why Aubrey and Stacie had tried to keep their relationship as private as possible, because this was the very kind of thing they had been hoping to avoid questions about.

"Do you want to—"

"I think I'll just sleep for a bit," Stacie interrupted quietly as she avoided the sympathetic gazes of her friends and made a show of fluffing up her pillow in preparation.

Beca and Chloe glanced at each other in concern, until Beca nodded. "Okay. If you need to—"

"I don't think so." Stacie said firmly. Because, really, what was there to talk about? The only person she could really talk to about her relationship was Aubrey, and that wasn't really an option at the moment.

Beca sighed, but nodded in resignation, knowing better than to push, and turned towards the door.

"Beca?" Stacie called after her.

"Yeah?"

"I guess you were right to be worried."

Beca cringed, but acknowledged the veiled accusation. She knew there had been a point in which she hadn't reacted very well when the revelation of Aubrey and Stacie's relationship had come to be, and she had made some hasty judgments on their relationship, primarily based on their secrecy. She hadn't known the depth of the relationship, or the effort that had been involved in even getting to the point that there had been something to tell, and now that she had just witnessed its very own meltdown, she felt guilty for having put that upon her friends. She nodded briefly at Stacie, and then left the room.

Chloe watched Beca leave, closing the door behind her. She turned back to Stacie, who was gazing at her thoughtfully, and braced herself for what she was sure could only be an onslaught of accusation, since she had been the most judgmental, the most reluctant, the most withdrawn over the relationship Stacie had with Aubrey, and just mere moments earlier, hadn't been the most supportive of either one in fixing the strain that the events from the night before had caused. Stacie had already called her out on it minutes ago; she wouldn't blame Stacie if there were more.

"I really love her, you know." Stacie finally said.

Chloe's brow knit in confusion. "I know."

"No, you don't." Stacie corrected. She hugged her pillow to her chest. "You don't really trust me, not on this. Not with her."

Chloe looked away. She couldn't exactly deny that. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine. I get it. She's one of the most important people in your life." Stacie assured her. "I just don't understand why."

Chloe's gaze swung back to her. "Isn't it obvious?"

This time, it was Stacie's turn to look confused.

"You were literally just fighting about it." Chloe reminded.

"I don't understand." Stacie admitted.

"You can have anyone you want, Stacie. And you have." Chloe pointed out. "I watched for a year while you bragged about and paraded your conquests in front of her and she never said a word. And I know you're not that same freshman who enjoyed her sexual encounters casual and sometimes-not-so-clean, but I know the depth of her feelings for you. Sometimes I'm not really sure that you do."

Stacie slumped. "I love her."

"I know you think you do—"

"No." Stacie glared at her. " _I love her_. Like the kind you read about in bad romance novels. It wouldn't suck the way it does that she's never around if I'm just in it for—"

"The sex?" Chloe finished for her. She quirked an eyebrow. "You can't blame me for being protective of her, Stacie. I listened to you and the girls make fun of her last year. I listened to you joke about how you would have liked to have 'banged the stress out' of her. You've made no secret of the fact that you had a crush, but you weren't exactly thinking of her with pure intentions, either."

Stacie sighed, and nodded her acquiescence. Chloe had a point, and she would be lying to try and argue otherwise. Prior to that summer, she had always referred to Aubrey as "the one who got away", somewhat jokingly with the Bellas, and cited Aubrey as the only person in Barden she'd set her sights on but for a myriad of reasons hadn't been able to snare. The Bellas had all watched her and Aubrey toe the line between being overly friendly and outright flirting the year prior, and as far as everyone knew, nothing had ever come of it. When Aubrey had graduated, the Bellas hadn't let Stacie live down her erstwhile crush, and she'd responded with responses typically expected of her. She had also gone along with everyone's jokes of how much more fun rehearsals were without their tyrannical former leader around. She should have known that just because Chloe had smiled along, she had meant it when she had tried to tell the Bellas to stop and remind them of the amount of pressure Aubrey was constantly under; ICCA redemption had been just one more thing she had been stressed about.

"I don't know if you believe me, but I swear I really do love her, Chloe." Stacie insisted.

"You just accused her of cheating on you." Chloe reminded.

"If you knew—"

"No." Chloe interrupted, shaking her head. "No." She repeated firmly, before elaborating: "I know there are things I don't know about her anymore, we don't talk like we used to and we're not the first people we call anymore. I know that. I know there are a lot of things she isn't telling me, and I have my own secrets, too, but I know Aubrey. She doesn't cheat on people she loves. And I know she loves you."

Stacie looked down, letting Chloe's words make their impact, and for the first time since she'd first heard the name Kathryn pass Aubrey's lips, admitted, "I know she wouldn't cheat." Because Aubrey had told Stacie her biggest relationship failures, the way they all ended in a stalemate, some based on Aubrey's actions or inaction, but not a single one of her stories had ever included her cheating. She had been cheated on, true, and she had broken up with people when she believed something better had come along, but she had never strayed.

Stacie hugged her pillow closer to her chest, the deep, ragged breath she took quickly dissolving into a quiet sob. "This wasn't supposed to happen."

Chloe sighed, and moved from her bed and across the gap to sit beside Stacie on her own bed. She wrapped an arm around Stacie's shoulders. "What?"

"We knew how things could go wrong. _We knew_. We didn't really start the relationship for a long time because of it." Stacie confided. "We do stupid things, both of us. She was supposed to try harder. I was supposed to know better."

"It's a rough patch," Chloe attempted to soothe.

"No," Stacie shook her head. "This is more than that."

A chill went through Chloe at the seemingly fatalistic words of her friend, but still she tried. "You guys love each other. You'll be fine."

Stacie shook her head. "Not after what I said."

Chloe bit her lip, because that last point of contention between Stacie and Aubrey was definitely not something that could easily be remedied. She knew, and she knew Stacie knew as well as she did that if there was anything you don't say to Aubrey Posen, it was that she wasn't good enough. "I'm sure she knows you didn't mean it."

Through her tears, Stacie still managed to chuckle wryly. "Even if that was true – and I'm not sure it is – I don't know how I'm going to get her to talk to me again."

"She will. Just give her time." Chloe reassured her. "But you'll have to figure out what you're going to say to her when she does."

Stacie looked at her. "What makes you so sure?"

"Because I've seen the way she looks at you." Chloe said simply. And it was true: despite her own reservations, the fact that she hadn't known what Stacie's intentions really were or if Aubrey was merely fulfilling the fantasy of dating Stacie without the full-time commitment Aubrey had always failed at, it had been easy to see that when they were together, they were completely enamored of each other. She smiled weakly at Stacie. "She loves you. She's just not someone who makes that easy."

Stacie rested her head on Chloe's shoulder. "I really was just dancing, you know."

Chloe sighed, and glanced over at her bed where her phone lay, eerily silent. "I know."

They stayed like that for a while, until Chloe realized Stacie's soft sobs had slowed to slow, even breaths, and she took a moment to acknowledge the fact that it was ironically the sudden deterioration of Stacie and Aubrey's relationship for her to come to terms with the fact that her current roommate was dating her former roommate and best friend. She still had her reservations, don't get her wrong, she knew both women well enough to know just how badly things could go and the ways they could both screw up – she was a little ashamed to say that she had seen the current state of their relationship coming – but Chloe also knew she had never seen Aubrey as happy as she had been with Stacie, or Stacie so enthralled by the person she was with.

And she had been through a lot of Aubrey's relationships with other people, and had seen Stacie with a lot of people.

Chloe maneuvered Stacie to lie on the bed, but when she tried to move away, Stacie's arms tightened their hold on her, and she was given little choice but to lay down beside Stacie and sighed. She reached over for her phone, ready to send Aubrey a message, but instead saw a new unread message from the woman herself, and briefly closed her eyes to brace herself for what she would read.

 _This is on me. I'm sorry._

Chloe sighed, and typed out her response: _Fix this._

 _She has to want me to._

Chloe frowned at the response, but going by what she'd heard of the conversation and her in-depth knowledge of Aubrey Posen?

Aubrey was giving Stacie an out.

Chloe sighed, and pressed the heel of her right hand against her brow, grimacing, because _of course_ Aubrey just had to make things that much harder.

What Stacie didn't quite understand was Aubrey's instruction for her to 'figure out' what she wanted. Because she thought it was obvious that she wanted Aubrey, and she wanted Aubrey to be around, at least like the way she once had been, able to see Stacie often and answered calls and messages in a timely manner. She understood it wasn't possible for Aubrey to be at her beck and call, and honestly she didn't really want that, she just wanted to spend more time with the girl. And they had played phone tag before, but Stacie hadn't always wondered how many days it would take for Aubrey to call her back. Phone messages back then weren't monosyllabic, they were usually flirty; and sometimes had even been downright dirty.

So she wanted her girlfriend back, but she knew for that to happen it would be at the expense of Aubrey's career.

She knew how much Aubrey's job meant to her, openly admitting that it had been the one thing she's really had since she had graduated from Barden. It had given her direction, focus; when she'd felt her life spinning out of control, Aubrey had her job. Stacie wasn't sure where she fit in all of that, but she knew she ranked high enough on Aubrey's list of priorities.

Aubrey had stretched the rules of ethics when she'd decided to date an intern in one of her company's subsidiaries, because it had been Stacie. Aubrey took assignments great and small in the greater southeastern United States, because it provided her opportunities to see Stacie.

Aubrey had moved meetings around so that she could come to Georgia and tell Stacie she loved her.

And Stacie loved her.

She just didn't know if she could stand the same crushing disappointment she had felt when she realized Aubrey hadn't made it to semifinals.

Which, ironically, was the concern Chloe had way back in February when she had proposed Galentine's Weekend, because she couldn't trust someone who could make Stacie's heart vacillate like a pendulum between extreme joy and that kind of hurt.

The week after their ICCA semifinals was a virtual Barden Bella wasteland, since they were supposed to be riding the high of their victory, especially with Spring Break officially starting later that week, and Stacie could appreciate her friends and teammates for doing their best to distract her and keep her spirits buoyed during that time, but it was in the quiet moments when she was alone that she couldn't help but wonder what was going to happen to her supposed trip to San José del Cabo given she and Aubrey weren't talking.

Especially given that according to Chloe, Aubrey had gone to England that week.

So it was bad enough she had given the ultimatum to Stacie not to call her until she made up her mind, but she wasn't even going to be in the position to answer the call.

"This is depressing." Fat Amy declared, barging into Stacie and Chloe's room, immediately followed by Beca and the rest of the Bellas. Chloe, who had been watching something on her laptop, pulled off her headphones at the same time Stacie saved her homework on her own laptop and closed it.

Chloe looked at the girls gathered in her room. "What's going on?"

"I am so sick of Stacie being lovelorn for our former Captain Tightpants!" Fat Amy exclaimed. "We're all avoiding the subject, and it's dragging us all down."

Stacie sighed. "I'm sor-"

"No, don't be sorry!" Fat Amy quickly cut her off. "We're here for you. In very uncomfortable ways. But we just made it back to the ICCA Finals, you guys! We should be celebrating!"

Chloe still looked confused. "I still don't know what you're talking about."

"You'll like this." Beca promised Chloe. She turned to Fat Amy. "Amy, maybe you should," she indicated rushing along.

Fat Amy didn't look so sure. "A good reveal should be drawn out, and savored, and—we're going to Coachella, aca-bitches!"

While the girls who had invaded the room cheered, both Chloe and Stacie didn't look so convinced.

"That's, like, this weekend." Chloe noted. There was no way anyone could score tickets for ten people on such short notice.

"Yeah, it turns out that if you're super-loaded with lots of money and can basically buy anything you put your mind to it, money can buy happiness." Fat Amy replied.

Chloe furrowed her brow.

"Amy's loaded and she bought all of us tickets for the first weekend and a hotel suite for the whole week." Jessica translated to Chloe.

"Oh!" Chloe's expression brightened, a little more enthused this time around. "Awes."

"So?" Beca prodded Stacie, who still remained unconvinced. "What do you say, Stacie?"

"I don't know," Stacie hedged. She motioned to her laptop. "I have a whole bunch of homework to do, and—"

"Wah, wah, don't be a chill killer, Conrad." Fat Amy shook her head. "We've even cleared it with the Trebles, they're cool if we throw them their celebratory party when we get back."

"Yeah, the change of scenery might do you good," Denise suggested.

"And if you don't want to party, you can still be there and enjoy the music." Ashley added.

"If you don't go Beca said she won't either, and she needs to find new music or the other teams can use our songs and we'll have to prepare three sets again." Flo pointed out, to which almost everyone looked at Stacie with alarm.

Stacie shot a glance at Beca, who looked at her teammates with a look of betrayal. "You guys all keep saying my mixes have to play to what's popular, it's not my fault everyone thinks the same thing."

Stacie couldn't help but smile, and laughed softly. "Okay."

"What's that?" Fat Amy prompted.

Stacie's laugh grew. "Yes! Okay. Let's go. Let's Barden Bella-Spring Break all over that party."

"Yes!" Fat Amy exclaimed, and pounced on Stacie on her bed. "You won't regret this!"


	33. Chapter 33

Despite her own emotional state when it came to her love life, Stacie couldn't help but believe Fat Amy when she said the Barden Bellas deserved a break and wouldn't regret making the trip to California and have Spring Break at Coachella, because if nothing else, she believed partying at the music festival in the middle of the desert with the Bellas would definitely help her out of her funk.

Unless there was a mix-up with Fat Amy's reservation that left them without room and board, while their flight back wasn't scheduled until the following Saturday.

"This can't be happening." Chloe groaned, collapsing onto a bench just outside the hotel.

"I'm sorry, you guys," Fat Amy offered weakly. "I must have missed the part about confirming the reservations."

Beca glanced up at the sky, and squinted at the afternoon sun through her sunglasses. She turned back to her friends, desperate for a plan that took them out of the heat. "Okay. So it's, like, Friday, right? The first weekend basically just started, so we only need to figure out what we'll do until Sunday, and then we can just scout the other hotels for checkouts and…"

"Everything's booked." Jessica reminded. "Didn't you hear the guy? They're full up until next weekend _and_ with a waiting list in case of cancellations. It's probably the same everywhere."

Stacie blew out a breath. "We're doomed."

"We can get tents and go camping," Ashley suggested.

"Rental for space and tents are long gone," Denise pointed out. "Even if we had a van, I don't think we'll get parking."

Lilly repeated Stacie's sentiment of "doomed".

"We can say we are performing and avail of the room and food they will provide," Flo piped in.

The Bellas all turned to look at her with consternation.

Cynthia Rose sighed. "I'll call up family, see who can—"

"Chloe?"

The Bellas all turned to check who had spoken, and saw two girls about their age nearby. And they looked really excited to see Chloe.

Chloe took a minute, but recognition finally dawned and she brightened, walking over and sharing a quick hug with the newcomers. "Patty! Trina! What are you guys doing here?" She rolled her eyes, realizing the stupidity of asking college-age girls what they were doing at Coachella during Spring Break, and shook her head. "Never mind."

One of the girls, a girl with short dark hair, laughed along. She nodded at the gathered group of girls. "Did you get kicked out of your hotel, or…"

"Reservation mix up." Chloe answered, making a face.

The other girl, with light brown hair tied in a French braid, smiled wryly. "It happens. So what's Plan B?"

Chloe shrugged in a gesture of helplessness.

The two girls glanced at each other, and then at the Bellas.

"We really should ask first." French Braid pointed out.

"But it's _Chloe_." Dark Hair argued.

Beca raised an eyebrow at the statement.

Especially since it seemed to win the argument. The girls turned back to Chloe and the rest of the Bellas, French Braid explaining the situation. "We rented a house. It's within walking distance to the venue if you're really fit. It's two bedrooms, but there's already four of us; but if you want, you can squeeze into the living room. It's not much, but—"

"We'll take it." Chloe said quickly.

"Chloe…" Beca started reluctantly.

"We don't know these people," Fat Amy reminded Chloe.

Chloe frowned, and then realized her social faux pas. "Oh! Right." She smiled at the girls, and then at the Bellas. "Barden Bellas, these are Patty, and Trina. They graduated from Barden two years ago. Trina even used to be a Barden Bella."

"I didn't know you could quit." Ashley noted.

"If you piss your captain off bad enough." Trina, the girl with dark hair, answered dryly. She looked at Chloe. "I'm still amazed you and Aubrey stuck it out."

Chloe smiled faintly. "You know us."

Trina laughed. "That, I do." She glanced over at the gathered group, and pursed her lips in thought. She glanced at Patty. "Two batches?"

Patty rolled her eyes. "You're paying for gas."

"Deal." Trina nodded. She turned back to the Bellas. "The van can't hold everyone at one time, so split up. One group will stay with me for grocery and supply run, everyone else will go with Pat to the house. Tell your friends what you need."

Patty glanced at the building behind them, and nodded. "Stay here, I'll get the van."

Trina went with her to drop off the packages they already carried, while the Bellas conferred among themselves on who would stay or go. Beca agreed to go with the first group, which consisted of Fat Amy, Cynthia-Rose, Flo and Lilly, all of whom she worried could say (or in Lilly's case actually _do_ ) something to perplex their hosts, while Chloe got the group of Ashley, Denise, Jessica and Stacie, who actually knew what the Bellas would need as food and supplies.

Beca just hoped Chloe and Stacie would listen to Denise and Jessica and won't load up the Bellas with a supply of power drinks and sugar, because she wanted Coachella Valley to remain standing after the festival was over.

The ride to the house was decent – the van fit six people and possibly at least two more comfortably, it ran well and the air conditioning was working, which was all Beca needed to know – and Patty was friendly without being too nosy or curious, although she couldn't help but wonder out loud why a group of college-age girls would travel all the way across the country without more definitive plans for transportation and lodging.

There was a moment of awkward silence, since Patty had expected something simple like it was a spur of the moment decision, or they had won the tickets from somewhere, while the answer was a little more complex than that.

Finally, Beca admitted, "Stacie's been in a kind of a funk, and Amy decided we should be celebrating getting to the ICCA Finals again."

"Also—" Flo began, and Beca rolled her eyes.

"And I wanted to listen to some new music that hasn't reached popular radio, maybe it'll help me with our sets." Beca added.

Patty nodded. "Well, celebrate away. We're only renting the house, so don't damage anything, but there's a large outdoor pool area, knock yourselves out."

The Bellas in the van glanced at each other, suddenly excited; just because they would all be crammed into the living room to sleep didn't have to mean that was all the space they would be limited to. The weekend was already looking up. And when they got to the house they were renting, Beca felt her jaw drop, because as someone who had lived in apartments and the suburbs, she had a disproportionate idea of what homes were supposed to look like.

Like, she's been to mansions – the Bellas had been invited to perform at the Governor's Mansion a year ago, so she _knew_ mansions – but she was pretty sure split-level homes in a gated community didn't usually get rented out.

As Patty went inside to inform the other house guests of their additional head count, bringing with her some grocery bags, the Bellas struggled to unload their bags and those of the other Bellas' from the van. Once they were done, Patty reemerged into the living room with a bottle of water, and smiled at them.

"I've told Reg and Tonya. They're cool with it, but they're really into the parties, so they're more nocturnal than anything. Try not to be too loud, especially before lunch." Tanya informed them. "Speaking of lunch, there's water and…" - Patty made a face - "more water in the fridge. There might still be cold pizza from last night, I'm not sure, but just help yourselves to whatever. There are bathrooms on either side," she motioned to the two hallways, "but we haven't figured out how to use the shower to the right, use at your own risk. There's also a changing room with a shower by the pool, if that's something you're gonna do." She glanced around, and went over to the nearby kitchen counter, picking up a laminated sheet. She handed it over. "House rules."

"Seriously?" Fat Amy asked, as Beca took the list.

"Seriously." Patty nodded. "Trina met the woman who owns the house; I wouldn't disobey anything on that list." She shuddered, recalling her friend's chilling tale, before she smiled brightly at the Bellas. "Welcome to Coachella."

It may not have been the best start to their Coachella experience, but even Beca had to admit, by that evening, the outlook for their week ahead had definitely improved. Given how exhausted they all were, the Bellas had voted to skip out on Friday night's festivities, agreeing to an early start the next day, but judging from the way the Bellas, along with their hosts – Patty, Trina, Regina and Tonya – were all drinking by the poolside, their early start was going to be a little later than any of them had previously planned.

All four of their hostesses were also from Barden, which provided some shared experiences and common ground, but Regina had moved to UC San Diego her second year, while Tonya had dropped out her junior year to take a year-long art course in Spain, and hadn't felt inclined to finish her degree since being an artist for hire was working out.

Chloe wasn't as well-acquainted with Regina or Tonya, the two girls being closer to Patty and knew Trina through her, with only vague recollections of Chloe. But Chloe only had two standards when meeting people from Barden both past and present, and neither of them had crossed that line yet, so she was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. Besides, the house they were staying in was awesome.

Their impromptu party started to wind down when Regina and Tonya left when a car came by to pick them up to check out the other parties happening in the area, having received an invitation the previous evening; and Patty decided to go to sleep after she remembered one of the bands she wanted to see had an early set the next day. Trina followed not soon after that, eventually leaving the current set of Barden Bellas to themselves.

"Why did you book us for a whole week when you could only get passes for the first weekend?" Cynthia Rose asked Fat Amy, because now that their initial plans hadn't panned out, questions seemed necessary.

"There are tons of parties we could go to." Fat Amy insisted. "What's the point of getting away if we don't really _go_ away?"

"We can always just sit back and relax." Chloe added. "No pressure."

"Yes, pressure: the passes cost money." Fat Amy reminded.

"I think Chloe meant we can take it easy for the next few days." Stacie told Amy.

"We have food, we have shelter, and starting at 11 every day, we have music." Jessica quipped.

"What more do we need?" Beca agreed, lifting her beer in a silent toast in Jessica's direction.

Denise suddenly paused, and turned to Beca. "Jesse's okay with you skipping on the Trebles' semis?"

Beca winced. "He was eventually? It's not like it's easy to get tickets to Coachella, and have everything supposed to be set up. He couldn't exactly complain about that, right?"

Before anyone could comment on that, Flo pointed at the structure across the pool from them, a house smaller than the one they were staying in but still larger than an average outdoor shed. "What's that?"

"That's a pool house." Stacie answered flatly.

"A house just for a pool?" Flo questioned.

Fat Amy looked over at the structure in question, and wondered, "Why couldn't we stay there?"

"Amy, we're already squatting in a living room because you couldn't check to confirm a reservation, should we _really_ be pushing our luck?" Beca asked wearily.

Fat Amy rolled her eyes, not bothering to confirm or deny Beca's assertion, and instead continued the conversation thread regarding the structure. "You know what happens in pool houses, don't you?" On cue, she and the rest of the Bellas, with the exception of Beca, all intoned, "bow-chicka-wow-wow."

Beca rolled her eyes at them. "Or it's there in case someone wants their privacy."

"For sex." Stacie added.

"No," Beca shook her head. "For some peace and quiet. To be alone."

"And have sex." Stacie said.

"Besides," Beca continued, ignoring Stacie as she gestured around them. "There's pool access from the two bedrooms _and_ the living room. That looks like the room with the most amount of privacy."

"For sex." Stacie insisted.

Beca threw up her hands, giving up.

"Okay," Chloe clapped her hands, calling everyone's attention. "Gates open at eleven. Six stages. Do we stay together or split up? How are we doing this, and what are we doing first?"

In the end, they don't really establish much in terms of their plans for the next day, because everything was contingent on what time they would be waking up; considering the lateness of the hour and they had been drinking, it was hard to estimate what time that would be.

When they decided to call it a night and moved inside to prepare their sleeping arrangements, to which there was the lengthy discussion of how they would all fit in the allotted space, and who were the lucky two who got to sleep on the couches.

While the Bellas argued over each other about the space, and after the disaster with their hotel room suite, Beca took the initiative to confirm Fat Amy's festival passes were legitimate, which they thankfully were.

Their first day in California hadn't been a _complete_ disaster, Stacie conceded, sitting at the dining table on a seat looking out to the pool; it wasn't exactly early in the morning, but the rest of the Bellas were all asleep and she didn't even know where the other girls in the house were, only that there had been a pot of coffee already made and still warm on the machine. Despite the inconveniences and terrible luck the Bellas had initially encountered, she had to admit that the weekend ahead, with the music and activities that they were sure to find in and around the festival, not to mention the prospect of working on her tan before they had to leave and head back to Georgia, were exciting prospects and just the right kind of distraction she could have wanted or needed. She hadn't said anything the previous day, and she was still reluctant to actually admit to it now, but when they had been turned away at the hotel, her first instinct had been to call up Aubrey and ask for her advice. Calling Aubrey had also been her instinct when she'd learned who Trina was and how she knew Chloe, when they had first seen the house and its luxurious amenities, and even they had been discussing how they could get the most out of their Coachella experience.

She hated to admit it, because admitting it meant her heart was overruling her head, but she missed Aubrey.

But missing her didn't automatically mean Stacie was ready to deal with everything being with Aubrey required, and she still wasn't sure if she could be so willing to come in second to Aubrey's job.

And she gets it, she knows Aubrey doesn't have a choice, it was her _job_ , and Aubrey had shown that if she could put Stacie first she _would_ , but for the first time since they had started their relationship, since that moment in the elevator in Philadelphia, Stacie really understood why Aubrey kept trying to draw the line in their relationship. Because Aubrey knew she wouldn't always be around. She knew just how tempting it could get, when there were people who could keep you company when you felt lonely and alone.

Stacie bit into her slice of cold pizza, looking out at the pool, and thinking about Aubrey's ultimatum.

 _Figure out what you want_.

She wanted Aubrey. That was easy. She wanted the girl she had first met, the girl who had been on a narrow-minded quest towards ICCA redemption and knowingly and willingly made herself the most hated person in the room because she wanted to drive a group of novice Barden Bellas to perfection. She wanted the girl in Philadelphia, who was rediscovering herself and who that person was, coming to terms with who she had once been, who she had become, and who she believed she still could be. She wanted the girl who gave up plans for President's Day to spend Galentine's Weekend with Stacie and her friends.

She wanted the girl in a hotel room in Atlanta, newly graduated with a whole life ahead of her, goals and ambitions within reach, and when asked what she wanted most in that moment, she had looked Stacie in the eye and said "you."

So she wanted Aubrey. She missed Aubrey. She loved Aubrey.

She just wasn't sure if that was enough. Especially not with the way things have been, not when they could resent each other so easily just for not being able to be physically present.

Something caught Stacie's attention out of the corner of her eye, and she shifted her gaze from the pool to check it out except then all coherent thought left her brain.

As if conjured by her thoughts, Stacie watched as Aubrey, hair up in a tight ponytail, dressed in exercise gear with headphones and her phone on a band around her arm, emerged from the side of the house, clearly using the pathway that led directly to the backyard, and walked up to the pool house, dangling a set of keys in her hands.

She watched, frozen, as Aubrey suddenly stopped in place, as if aware she was being watched, and turned to look in the likeliest of places.

Their gazes locked, shock crossing Aubrey's features, probably mirroring Stacie's own.

It was only after Aubrey shook herself out of their staring contest and disappeared into the pool house when Stacie finally managed to release the breath she had been unknowingly holding, and she sighed softly as she let the name reintroduce itself to her entire being. "Aubrey."


	34. Chapter 34

The strange comfort of it all, Aubrey told herself, mostly to lie to herself and make herself feel better, was that she's actually had worse weeks.

She just wished she hadn't read that email.

The email came in while she was in flight, and while she loves her phone and is nearly inseparable from it, she should have recognized the email for the harbinger of doom it turned out to be.

Instead all she saw was that the Vice President of Operations was telling her that despite her filed leave, since she was the only member of Oversight in Georgia or even remotely nearby, her presence was "advisable" at the project negotiation happening in their Atlanta office. The email from Kathryn, the liaison assigned to the southeastern region, had confirmed the necessity of Aubrey's presence as a representative of the Oversight Committee, as well as having a direct line of communication with the VP of Operations, since apparently the client intent on voiding the existing contract doubted the Sales and Marketing representative's promises without someone validating their claims.

And unfortunately for Aubrey, she had been designated to be that someone.

She knew how long negotiations could take, especially 11th hour deals, and she knew it was unlikely that she'd be able to meet Stacie at Barden before semifinals, which was why she took a detour at a flower shop to have flowers delivered to the auditorium, a precaution in case she was late and would need something to buy her way back into Stacie's good side. She had it addressed to Jesse as a safety measure, in case she arrived late, with specific instructions to the florist and to whomever would be at the box office to give the flowers to Jesse, whom Stacie said would also be picking up his ticket from the theater because Beca kept forgetting to give him one, and even indicated his phone number, which Stacie had given Aubrey in case he mistakenly took both tickets they were leaving at the front of the theater.

She had briefly debated on whether or not to inform Stacie about being called in, but things were already strained between them, following the disaster of the previous weekend, and Aubrey knew Stacie wasn't the biggest fan of the recent changes in Aubrey's job description. The last thing she wanted was to upset Stacie right before the Bellas' ICCA semifinals, and she decided it inevitably wouldn't matter, once she made it to the auditorium and the Bellas were safely en route to the finals for the third straight year.

She only realized she had underestimated how badly negotiations were going when both Kathryn and Jed, their Business Development representative, looked infinitely grateful when she joined them at the office. Kathryn, for one, had been near the point of tears, and as someone who had been driven to tears more than once in her own career, Aubrey had felt instinctively protective of the liaison.

And, yes, maybe the part of her that liked being needed had kicked in.

Her boss hadn't helped when she had instructed Aubrey to keep her phone line open and available, working out the details of the deal with another team in New York, figuring out what the client wanted against what they actually needed, and the realistic goals of each item.

Aubrey knew she had been watching the clock, calculating when the semifinals were starting, and tried to convince herself she had more time by theorizing that the Bellas could be the last group to perform, and maybe she should wait until the winners were announced…

She hadn't told anyone why she had taken Friday off when she was already scheduled to go on a week-long vacation not soon after, but it wasn't hard to discern why someone who hardly ever took a day off for a year was suddenly using up leave time and offsetting her overtime hours, and Kathryn kept shooting her sympathetic looks throughout the ordeal, knowing exactly why Aubrey was in Georgia in the first place.

It hadn't helped, and as the night wore on Aubrey came to accept that she wasn't leaving anytime before daylight.

Once everyone had come to agreeable terms in the early morning hours, Aubrey had to help Kathryn figure out the logistics of the new deal, being more familiar with the resources that would be utilized and the details Operations and Oversight were promising. By the time everything was said and done, Aubrey had been running on fumes, and when they were given time to take a break and wait for the final confirmation from the client on their approval of the negotiated deal, that was the first time Aubrey took a look at her phone.

Notifications of pictures on Facebook and Twitter, which she had assumed was about their ICCA semifinal, which was the only reason why she had checked them first, and was greeted by a series of pictures from the celebratory party. And it was all fun and games until she noticed that the pictures that included Stacie either had her hamming for the camera with other Bellas, or she was in the background dancing.

With people.

A lot of people.

A lot of other people Aubrey didn't recognize.

It took everything in her not to just call Stacie up and ask her about it, but she knew she was liable to say something she didn't really mean, just to displace her feelings of guilt over missing the Bellas' semifinals, and ultimately decided she had to carefully choose what she wanted to say because it had been a mess of a night. So she had left her phone on a nearby desk with everyone else's phones, while she went to get coffee.

If she had known what would happen next, maybe she would have reconsidered the decision of letting things lie until she figured out what she had really wanted to say.

She can take the blame for what happened because she had always known that between her and Stacie, she would be the one to screw up the relationship. They were making things up as they went along, but Stacie was still the idealist between them, the one who hadn't been burned by one too many relationships; the one who would do or say anything to sustain the relationship. And Aubrey...

…should have known better.

She should have known better than to think forgiveness was as simple as asking for it and believing they were back on track after expressing their love verbally and physically. She should have known that just because long distance had been working for her and Stacie the past few months that the relationship could sustain itself under duress. She should have known her easy dismissal of Stacie's questions regarding Kathryn hadn't help assuage any doubts the younger woman had.

She should have known that in the end, despite doing everything possible to not ruin the relationship, she was still fully capable of screwing it up.

And she'd capped off that shit show by taking the cowardly way out, too afraid of the realization that even if Stacie did call, what she had to say may not be what Aubrey wanted to hear, that she had taken the assignment to check in on their England office, leaving only a message with Chloe where she would be and why she wouldn't be responding to calls in a timely manner.

She had even considered forfeiting her leave time, since it was pointless to go to San Jose del Cabo by herself like a sad tourist, but it was hard enough to get approved leave time, and she knew she'd be left alone for the week since she had closed a deal just a week before.

But she needed to leave. To get away. To do what she'd done all those months ago in Philadelphia and just be somewhere – _anywhere –_ else.

Several phone calls - trading and calling in favors from people she knew - and a Facebook exchange later, and she had arrangements for a week-long stay in California with a festival pass to both Coachella weekends. After all, if she was going to wallow in misery over some of the choices she'd made, she figured she might as well do it surrounded by music and in a scene very different from her usual.

Trina and Patty had both been in her graduating class, and Trina had once even been a Bella, one of the very few who left the a cappella group, a direct result of Alice's tyrannical rule. She'd also shared a few classes with Patty, which was why she'd extended an invitation to them to share the house when she'd seen they were also going to be at Coachella that weekend.

In hindsight, she should have realized it had been too easy.

What she hadn't told Chloe, hoping to buy herself some time with Stacie, was that the trip to England was only going to be for a few days, and she'd gone back to New York where she'd made her travel arrangements. Her leave time wasn't until Saturday, which was why her flight to California had come in early on Saturday morning.

She knew Patty and Trina had two other friends from Barden with them, which is why she had claimed the pool house for herself, giving herself the option on whether or not she would be hanging out with them while they were in California.

Because she knew she had some hard choices to make, and she didn't know if she could do that and be social at the same time.

She'd been awake for her flight to California.

Because she knew she owed Stacie an apology. A lot, probably. During their last phone call she'd said she was trying her best, but Aubrey wasn't so sure that was exactly true: because her "best" went to making sure she did her job with Oversight, ensuring the company operated smoothly despite any potential and actual snags. She took meetings and fielded phone calls with local and regional managers, with the liaisons, collaborating and coordinating with coworkers that her numbers matched theirs, that people weren't stagnating in their jobs and she was moving people through the pipeline properly.

Her job was _at least_ eighty percent of her life, but she would like to think that she gave Stacie the full twenty she had left.

But the cracks in their relationship had started to show, highlighted most when her lousy attempt at getting Stacie to North Carolina to introduce her to her family had backfired in a major way and she had been far too willing to pin the blame on Stacie.

She had rectified that quickly, realizing the stupidity of such an opinion, but it didn't take away from the fact that she had thought it, and worse: she had expressed as much to Stacie.

And she knew, as she had maintained from the start, that Stacie deserved better. She deserved better than a part-time girlfriend, someone who sometimes could only manage to send simple sentences as a reply to Stacie's text messages at the end of long work days. Certainly, Stacie Conrad deserved better than a girl who could only offer twenty percent of her time.

Because nothing had changed: she loved Stacie, and she would do anything to still call Stacie her girlfriend, but the job would always take precedence in Aubrey's life. She had spent too long building her life around her job and being defined by it, and it would suck beyond the telling of it, but she very well couldn't continue putting Stacie second.

The only flicker of hope she continued to have was the fact that Stacie hadn't tried calling, which she liked to believe was Stacie still trying to decide what she really wanted.

Because Stacie's unintended hit had landed in a solid manner, and Aubrey knew there was only one foregone conclusion, and she hoped that when it came Stacie would be merciful, even if she didn't deserve it.

Reaching some kind of peace with that inevitable end, the only thing that had stayed her hand in texting Chloe to announce being back Stateside, knowing she would relate that information to her roommate and fellow Bella, was a call from the one who had arranged for her festival pass, whose only opportunity to meet and accommodate her before the 11AM opening of the festival gates was at five AM.

The morning run had turned out to be a good idea, since it had been ages since she'd done any running that wasn't on a treadmill, and while it wasn't quite as invigorating as she'd hoped it would be – she was so out of shape, _damn_ – it at least helped her calm down a little.

But upon returning to the house, taking the side entrance to the pool house, she'd felt an inexplicable shiver down her spine, a warm and familiar feeling washing over her, which was strange given her location; but the familiarity made her wonder, and it was the only reason why she had stopped to figure out why it was happening.

They were separated by a pool, an outdoor patio, and closed glass doors between them, and still Aubrey felt her heart stop at the sight of Stacie, seated at the dining table, gazes meeting the moment she turned her head.

She didn't know how long she and Stacie stared at each other, the avalanche of emotions hitting Aubrey to the point wherein she couldn't pick or choose which one she felt most, and while a large part of her wanted to cover the distance between them and just make contact, just to prove to herself that Stacie was real, in the end she picked retreat.

Ducking into the pool house and locking it closed, before taking a seat at the edge of the bed and wondering what the hell she was going to do now.

The thought of Stacie showing up at her door was met with both hope and dread, but Aubrey knew Stacie wouldn't do that, a knowledge that was rooted in the fact that Aubrey had given Stacie a very specific instruction, to figure out what she wanted and not to call until she had done that, and Stacie took that seriously.

Because everything was fun and rosy when they were together, but the real work and effort came when they were apart.

And they have never been further apart than they were now.

Aubrey knew there was only one foregone conclusion, but hadn't considered that this being Stacie's first real relationship, that maybe the girl, smart as she was, just hadn't figured that part out yet. That Stacie would want to think things through a little more. That maybe she didn't want her first relationship to fizzle and die out.

It's weird, how she'd gone from wanting Stacie to come to North Carolina to meet her family, to flying to England to lick her wounds, returned to New York with the impulse to try and win Stacie back – if Stacie even still wanted her back - only to head to California and reach the conclusion that Stacie had to break up with her.

But Stacie being at Coachella meant making adjustments to her plans.

Mainly the one where she thought being social could be an option.

This called for contingency plans.

The first real surprise came when it was Beca, and not Chloe, to be the first Bella to show up at her door. And as if reading her mind, Beca immediately explained, as a way of greeting, "Chloe's still asleep."

Aubrey nodded, joining Beca outside and closing the door to the pool house behind her. "Are all the Bellas here?"

Beca nodded. "Fat Amy got us passes for the first weekend."

Aubrey quickly glanced over at the house.

"Glitch in the hotel reservations," Beca admitted.

"Didn't confirm the booking?" Aubrey guessed.

Beca nodded.

Aubrey wasn't even surprised, since Fat Amy was very easily distracted. She sighed. "Look, I'm just here on vacation, okay? You guys do your thing, I'll do mine. I have a friend also doing Coachella, don't worry about me cramping your style, or whatever."

"No, that's…" Beca shook her head. "Look, I know break ups are hard, and—" she stopped abruptly when she saw Aubrey visibly blanch. "What?"

Aubrey glanced back over at the house.

Beca followed her gaze, before turning back to Aubrey, slightly alarmed. "Wait."

"Is that what she said?" Aubrey asked quietly.

"No, she…" Beca winced, and shook her head. "She actually hasn't said anything."

Aubrey cast a frown upon her. "Then why would you even say that?"

"I don't know!" Beca threw her hands up. "Because she's been sulking and you missed semis, and you're alone at Coachella, which, let's face it, kind of a red flag…"

"So I'm rebounding with a bunch of hipster strangers now?" Aubrey asked, crossing her arms across her chest.

Beca rolled her eyes. "You're such an ass."

"And you're terrible at this." Aubrey returned. She ran a hand through her hair, and sighed. "I'm on vacation, Beca. And I have a friend who works with the event. That's all. I didn't know you were going to be here, but you're here now and Trina and her friends are paying for the house rental. This doesn't have to be weird."

"It's already weird." Beca pointed out.

Aubrey conceded that point.

Beca blew out a breath, before dryly noting to Aubrey, "They're making me learn new music for our set mixes."

Aubrey glanced at her, and feigned sympathy. "Aww, are you pulling too many samples from too many different genres?"

Beca paused, took a beat to remember why the words sounded familiar, and then turned to glare at Aubrey. "I hate you."

Aubrey grinned.

Despite herself, Beca started to smile, as well. "So you're here for the weekend?"

"The whole week."

Beca paused, and pointed at the house. "You don't, like… _own_ the house, do you?"

Aubrey looked at her.

"Because we need to talk about that list of rules…"

"It's not mine. One of our managers does."

"Oh." Beca relented. Then: "And this is okay?"

"She really rents it out for Coachella." Aubrey replied. "They just had the pool fixed, which is why it was available."

"Did anyone know you were coming?"

"I told Trina I would." Aubrey shrugged. "It's fine, Beca."

"It's really not," Beca answered.

They both glanced towards the house. They both knew exactly how complicated things had just become, and maybe Beca felt kinship with Aubrey, and Chloe would always be on Aubrey's side, but Beca couldn't exactly swear under oath that the rest of the Barden Bellas would be in any way diplomatic or civil in the Aubrey-Stacie stand-off.

Aubrey shook her head, and glanced briefly at Beca as her lips quirked into a smile. "Did you come and see me just so we could bond, Frodo?"

"Shut up."

"And how do you even know that breakups are hard? You've been in one relationship... that you're still in."

"I listen to Adele, okay? Stop it."

Aubrey laughed.

Beca smiled, mentally patting herself in the back for being able to get Aubrey to lighten up a little, before she asked, cutting to the chase: "What are you going to do about Stacie?"

Aubrey sighed, because it was easy to tell herself the smart thing for her and Stacie to do was break up, but the reality of that prospect was too much for her to really grasp. She smiled sadly. "I don't know."


	35. Chapter 35

Stacie would love to say she didn't care what Aubrey was doing at Coachella – in Indio, in California, most definitely not in England or New York - but that would be a lie.

She didn't know if Aubrey had lied, if Aubrey was in California with someone, if Aubrey had known that the Bellas were also going to be at the music festival. Had Patty and Trina known, and if they did, what role did they play in everything?

Did she miss her? Had Aubrey spent the past week thinking about their fight, replaying it over and over in her head, trying to figure out where everything had gone wrong, wanting to press pause and point at that moment and know – just _know_ – that there had been a specific instance where everything could have been avoided, where things could have been fixed? Had she wondered what she would say when they spoke again? Had she been tempted to call, several times, only to realize she didn't really know what to say, only that she missed her voice and needed to be reassured that despite everything, things would still be alright?

When their eyes had met earlier that morning, had Aubrey wanted to break their impasse as much as she had?

These were the important questions.

Beca was the first one to decide to go and see Aubrey – mainly because Chloe was still soundly asleep – and from what Stacie could tell from behind the safety of the curtain inside the main house, Aubrey had seemed okay, and other than a few glances towards the house, didn't seem too bothered over the Bellas sharing her vacation plans.

Stacie was admittedly a little jealous of the fact that Beca and Aubrey could so easily fall back into genial conversation while she herself didn't even know if she was in a position to even say hello to the girl, a feeling not helped by the tight embrace Chloe received when she finally bounded out to tackle Aubrey into a hug.

Because the way Aubrey clung onto Chloe spoke of everything her body language with Beca did not, and the way Beca reluctantly left them, heading back to the main house while Aubrey and Chloe disappeared into the pool house.

She was _totally_ just heading towards the refrigerator to get something at the same moment Beca got back inside and intercepted her.

"She's on vacation." Beca told her. "She'll be here for the whole week."

Because Stacie had made her swear to take that week-long break after semifinals for a reason, and Stacie was more than a little relieved that Aubrey hadn't opted to invite someone else – especially a certain liaising _someone else_ – to Cabo.

Stacie bit her lip, glancing out to the pool house, and asked Beca, "Should I go over there and talk to her?"

Beca regarded her thoughtfully. "Do you _want_ to go and talk to her?"

Yes. _Duh_. But also no, because she had no idea what she would say, even what she _could_ say, because Aubrey had asked her to make a decision and she wasn't sure if she'd made it yet.

But Beca was likely to talk to Aubrey again, and if Aubrey asked, she needed Beca to have something to say that wouldn't tip Aubrey over the edge. "I don't know what to say."

"Hi usually works as a start." Beca said dryly.

"It's complicated."

"You don't have to fix everything in one conversation, you know." Beca pointed out.

Stacie _did_ know. But she also knew she couldn't just go up to Aubrey and say "hi" without an answer to the question of what she wanted.

Chloe had no such reservations, climbing onto the queen-sized bed in the pool house and luxuriating in it. "Ohhh my God. I'm gonna start sleeping with you now."

Aubrey, who had been checking her phone for messages, raised an eyebrow at her friend. "Aren't the Bellas here for bonding time?"

"Shhh, sleeping." Chloe shushed, burrowing further into the covers. She paused, and then sat up, frowning. "Since when don't you fix the covers after getting up?"

Aubrey hesitated, because the answer to that was two-fold: one was because she was used to living in hotels and usually left abruptly, leaving the room in a haphazard manner, and the other reason… involved other people.

Chloe sighed, and leaned against the headboard to look at Aubrey. "So what's the deal with you and Stacie?"

Aubrey glanced at her.

"Because you're in the same zip code and you haven't kissed and sloppily made out yet?" Chloe pressed.

"You mean kissed and made up?" Aubrey asked.

"Did I stutter?" Chloe retorted. She shot Aubrey a challenging look. "I know you're fighting, and I'm sure you have your reasons for not being the first one to reach out, but are you really ready not to be Stacie's girlfriend anymore?"

"It's not that simple." Aubrey told her.

"But you don't have to make things harder!" Chloe exclaimed. "Bree, you…" She paused to fix the flow of words that she wanted to say, and took a deep breath. "I don't know the kind of pressure you're under, but we've seen each other through a lot of bad stuff, and you've got to admit, Stacie makes things better for you. You're really gonna give that up because she doesn't know when to shut up?"

Aubrey had to smile at Chloe's choice of words. "I actually like that she doesn't really have a filter."

Chloe shot her an incredulous look. "She turns everything into innuendo."

Aubrey's smile only grew.

Chloe noticed. "Oh my God you're totally smitten, aren't you?"

Aubrey only smiled in response.

"So why the hell aren't you fixing this yet?"

Aubrey's smile faded instantly. "Because I can't."

Chloe scoffed. "You're Aubrey, of course you can. Posens don't quit, remember?"

"I can't fix what needs fixing." Aubrey elaborated. "Stacie thrives on affection and physical intimacy -two things I have to be around to give her. My job demands so much of my time that I try not to make promises I'll know I break, and the nature of the job keeps me from following through on promises I _actually_ make. Things can't continue like they are now."

Chloe stared at her for a long moment, as if waiting for more, before finally asking, "That's it?"

Aubrey frowned.

"Just a few weeks ago you proved everyone wrong by showing that whatever preconceived notions we had of Stacie's absent… well, girlfriend, it turns out; we were wrong. You showed up at Barden, you hung out with her friends, you stuck it out even though we were being weird about it. And now you're just going to give up?"

"It's not that easy, Chloe." Aubrey insisted.

"But it doesn't have to be that hard." Chloe countered. She threw up her hands in frustration. "You deserve to be happy, Bree. And she makes you happy. Why would you let yourself lose that?"

"Because she deserves better!" Aubrey argued. She shook her head. "And whether or not she meant what she said, the fact remains that I'm screwing this up, and—"

"And you'd rather quit while you're ahead?" Chloe cut in sharply.

A tense silence followed Chloe's assertion, revealing the truth of her accusation.

Aubrey sighed, and sat down on the edge of the side of the bed, looking down before turning to look at Chloe. "I can only disappoint her, Chloe: I'm never around, and even when I am I'm on call pretty much at every moment of every day. My plans can change in five minutes because they need me someplace else. I am juggling accounts and clients along with the internal mechanism of the company - and that's not the relationship I want to have with Stacie." She blew out a breath. "I don't enjoy taking calls while I'm with her, or the fact that sometimes it feels like I have to try that much harder just to keep her interested, even though I know she's fine and happy just to have me around, but that's…"

Chloe studied Aubrey as the other girl let her voice trail off, and for a moment she recognized the person the girl who had been her college roommate for four years, the girl who put up a brave front but sometimes was just as lost as the next person. "Bree?"

Aubrey smiled wryly, the bitterness showing in the smile. "It feels like she's settling, and that's not how I want her to feel about our relationship."

"You know it's not always about the grand gestures, right?" Chloe prodded.

"It shouldn't just be about the smallest thing, either." Aubrey objected. She shook her head. "I don't exactly have a lot of options here, Chloe."

"Maybe," Chloe allowed. "But you're going to have to figure out what really matters, because everything you're both feeling now? There aren't a lot of ways it can get better."

"But a lot of ways it can get worse." Aubrey finished the sentiment, and nodded. "I know."

Chloe moved closer to Aubrey, and wrapping her arms around Aubrey's waist, rested her head against Aubrey's shoulder, with Aubrey inclining her own head to press her cheek against the top of Chloe's hair.

After a moment's silence, Chloe spoke again. "What are you even doing in Coachella?"

"I'm meeting a friend."

Chloe lifted her head to look questioningly at Aubrey.

Aubrey shook her head. "Long story."

Aubrey didn't elaborate, and Chloe had a feeling that she didn't really want to know.

Despite their coincidentally matching week-long vacations, Aubrey obviously had her own set of plans, evidenced by the car that came by a little after eleven to pick her up and the fact that along with the wristband that acted as her Coachella festival pass, she wore a lanyard that proudly carried her VIP pass.

Fat Amy glanced over at Stacie after they watched the car rolled out of the driveway, and mused, "Tightpants got cool."

Chloe rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything, long past the point of trying to make the Bellas be more subtle and discreet with their comments regarding their former captain.

Stacie told herself that Aubrey traveled a lot for her job and must have a lot of friends around the country; she didn't care.

Much.

She _was_ a little jealous of the VIP access though.

It's weird, though, knowing she and Aubrey were in the same area and not being together. It didn't help that she had no idea which acts Aubrey was particularly inclined to listen to, or which VIP area her pass gave her access to, but she swears she wasn't looking for the blonde as the Bellas broke off into smaller groups to take advantage of the six performance stages.

Stacie ended up hanging with Beca and Lilly, whose tastes in music she trusted the most, and while she's never heard of the band that was playing when they decided on a spot, she was just grateful it wasn't some band who got a pity invite to the music festival.

The weird thing about hanging out with Beca and Lilly were their tendencies to be so immersed in the music – Beca figuring out the beats per minute and already creating mixes in her head, while Lilly was focused on mimicking parts of the music – that they tended to completely forget they had company. Finding out Jessica and Ashley were waiting to start a set with a band Stacie actually recognized, she said goodbye to Beca and Lilly to go and search for her other friends.

But the stage Ashley and Jessica were waiting at was near one of the VIP tents, and on her way there, she noticed a figure with a head of blond hair she would recognize anywhere.

Aubrey was with a girl with light-brown curly hair, the two of them standing closely together as they spoke, Aubrey's rapt attention to whatever the girl was saying and the other girl's hold on Aubrey's wrist not lost on Stacie.

She knew Aubrey well enough to know she wouldn't be rebounding without a definitive response from Stacie, but it didn't help matters to see her so comfortable with someone else while she and Stacie couldn't seem to figure out how to be in the same zip code; or the fact that the girl – whoever she was – seemed to be completely at ease breaching Aubrey's personal space.

She didn't know what Kathryn looked like, but whoever the other woman was, she had just managed to make her way onto Stacie's hate list.

And then they noticed her.

The girl noticed her first, drawing Aubrey's attention, and then making Aubrey turn to look, the girl saying something to Aubrey, earning for herself a sharp look from the blonde before they both turned in Stacie's direction.

Stacie stood frozen, unsure of what to do next, knowing only she had to acknowledge that they had seen her.

She did not expect Aubrey to take leave from the girl and make her way towards her.

Ha. _Take that, unknown girl._

Stacie fidgeted, glancing around her to check her escape route options, wanting to bolt but not really, and smiled awkwardly when Aubrey came closer. "Hey."

Aubrey smiled back, just as awkward. "Hey."

 _Hey_. Like a hopeless idiot.

Aubrey gazed at Stacie, taking in the reality of Stacie being in front of her as well as the visual of Stacie Conrad in a short sundress that only served to remind Aubrey how much she had missed her. But they were at an impasse for a reason, and she shook her head as she dealt with _that_ reality. "Um," she cleared her throat, and motioned over her shoulder. "Jill's group is having a party at the house they're renting later, I was wondering if you'd like to go."

Stacie frowned, unsure.

"Chloe's coming." Aubrey said quickly, because she wasn't sure where she and Stacie were in their relationship at the moment, making her unwilling to overstep, but completely missing the way Stacie's expression slightly shadowed. "I'm inviting Chloe and the other Bellas too, I just wanted to make sure you'd be okay with it."

Stacie forced a smile. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Aubrey had no idea what to say to that, so she soldiered on. "Good. Great! Great." She mirrored Stacie's smile. "I'll probably have to invite Trina and the other girls too, but it's like a dinner party thing, so you can come right back here to catch the big acts."

"Great." Stacie answered by rote, uncertain as to how to carry on the stilted conversation.

"Yeah." Aubrey nodded, also at a loss.

There was a pause in which so many other things could have been said, but neither woman was about to broach the subjects they were both carefully avoiding, knowing the things that could be said which could cause more harm than good given the circumstances. It was strained, and it was awkward, but neither of them felt inclined to leave the other's proximity just yet.

Aubrey exhaled. "Stacie…"

Stacie folded her arms in front of her, looking down briefly before she looked back up to meet Aubrey's gaze.

Aubrey watched the younger woman put on a defensive stance, immediately recognizing the fact that anything she said now in regard to their relationship wouldn't be received well. She sighed. "I know it's weird, but I'm not here to ruin Coachella, or Spring Break, for you or the other girls."

"You're not." Stacie interjected.

Aubrey smiled wryly. "I kind of am, if Beca already had to come to me with a parley."

Stacie lifted an eyebrow, amused despite their awkwardness. "A _parley_?"

Aubrey rolled her eyes. "I know."

"It's fine." Stacie assured her. She smiled weakly. "I mean it's definitely weird, but it's fine. We're fine."

Stacie's voice faltered then, as she and Aubrey exchanged a wry, knowing look, because _were they, really?_

Stacie unfolded her arms and checked her phone, seeing messages from Jessica. "I have to…"

"Oh. Of course." Aubrey nodded, stepping back. "Tell them about the party? A car will come by to pick us up."

Stacie frowned. "For fifteen people?"

Aubrey shrugged.

Stacie looked away briefly, trying to decide if she really wanted to know the answer to what she was about to ask, before turning back to Aubrey. "This Jill chick…"

Aubrey gave her a look, as if to ask if she was sure about asking the question.

Which was just about all the response Stacie needed. "Oh."

"It was a long time ago," Aubrey was quick to reassure.

It helped a little, but not by much.

Aubrey smiled faintly, knowing that their tentative truce had just suffered a serious setback. "I'll see you later, Stacie."


	36. Chapter 36

"Are you out of your mind?" Aubrey demanded the minute she and Chloe were alone, closing the glass doors between the patio and the kitchen behind them, an act that psychologically more than physically prevented the rest of the Bellas from following. "Those are people I work with!"

"That's not a denial." Chloe pointed out, pulling her arm away from Aubrey's grip. She walked a few steps away before she spun to point at Aubrey. "And proves Stacie right about worrying you and that liaison."

Aubrey wanted to tear her hair out and wishing more than anything that she had never been acquainted with Kathryn or even the word _liaison_. "I try to stay friends with my exes, Chloe. You know that."

"So Jill is an ex?" Chloe asked. "So it's even worse than—"

"What? No." Aubrey shook her head. She ran her hand through her hair in frustration. "Why is everyone so quick to believe I would do anything to hurt Stacie? That I'm that willing to risk my relationship with her?"

To that, Chloe didn't have a counterargument, because she knew how she had acted, and she knew a lot of the Bellas had similar reservations about the Stacie and Aubrey relationship.

"If everyone feels that way about our relationship – about _me_ – why did any of you even come to the party?" Aubrey asked. "Nobody was forcing you."

"Actually—" Chloe started, and then stopped.

Aubrey arched an eyebrow.

"Beca and Stacie kind of did," Chloe admitted.

Aubrey directed her gaze heavenward, as if pleading for strength.

"And _maybe_ I was a little out of line—"

"A little?" Aubrey interrupted, unable to contain her incredulity. "You asked my friend to her face on whether or not we're sleeping together."

"Your friend?" Chloe repeated. "I know what you're like around people you like, Aubrey, and you're more than friendly with that Jill girl."

"That's none of your concern!"

"It is when I've been defending you to anyone who would listen!" Chloe argued. "I'm telling everyone that you love Stacie and this is a rough patch, but it's a little harder to sell that when you're practically attached to someone else!"

"I'm her guest. And she wants me to work with her on—"

"Oh, I _bet_ she wants you to work with her on something." Chloe snarked. "I'm on your side no matter what, but you have to realize how it looks."

"So Stacie and I are a little on the outs, and I'm not allowed to be friends with anyone else right now?"

" _Friends?_ " Chloe repeated. "You were hanging out with her when Stacie – remember her? Your actual, current, girlfriend? – was _right there_." Chloe pointed out.

"Our relationship isn't exactly in a good state right now, if you haven't noticed," Aubrey remarked sarcastically, as if neither she nor Chloe had been repeating the sentiment.

"Or you're pretending your relationship is non-existent to all those people at the party." Chloe countered.

"And the possibility that I might not want my relationship to be fodder for gossip with people I barely know never crossed your mind?" Aubrey asked.

"Your ex-gi—"

"I slept with her twice; that's not a relationship." Aubrey snapped. "We're friends who got drunk on too much champagne twice, and that was over a year ago."

"You just called her an ex."

"Oh my God." Aubrey groaned, throwing her hands up in both aggravation and frustration, knowing there was no way she was going to win this argument, simply because she and Chloe were having two totally different arguments. She was annoyed by how Chloe had been especially rude to Jill at the party, while Chloe was resentful of the fact that Aubrey was not cutting through the flak and just making up with Stacie already.

"Bree, I'm trying to be understanding about this, I swear," Chloe started, and hating the skeptical look Aubrey briefly shot in her direction, but soldiered on. "But I know you've changed since you left Barden, and I don't know what all those changes are. And maybe you believe you couldn't hurt Stacie, and I want to believe it, too, but Stacie thought it. _Stacie_. The one person who seems to know exactly what you've been through since I last saw you. I know you would do your best not to hurt her, but…"

And that, right there, was exactly why Aubrey believed she and Stacie needed to break up.

But what Chloe said next stopped that thought from running away from her. "But maybe you both needed this to happen."

Aubrey paused, and looked at her in confusion.

Chloe sat down on one of the pool chairs, and sighed heavily. "It's her first relationship, so she doesn't know how hard things are. How hard things can really get. How often you and the relationship can't be the thing that demands the most time or effort or even importance." She looked up at Aubrey. "And you need to decide if your job is worth losing her over."

"I've had the job for two years." Aubrey reminded. "I had the job when I had nothing, Chloe. Stacie…"

"Loves you." Chloe cut in. She shook her head in disbelief. "You're in love with someone who loves you back, and has seen you at your worst, and you want to let that go? Are you insane?"

Aubrey scoffed. "I doubt she's seen me at—"

"You were terrible during our senior year, Bree." Chloe reminded.

"I was driven." Aubrey corrected.

"You were an extreme aca-bitch." Chloe corrected. "And Stacie saw all of that, even when you kicked Beca out of the team and turned against the one person who never gave up on you; she was there, and she still thought to herself: ' _Her._ I want her.' And you're just willing to walk away from that?"

Aubrey's shoulders sagged, allowing herself to feel the defeat she could already feel permeating through her bones, acknowledging the one thing she hadn't allowed herself to think about before, the truth that helped her believe that while it would hurt her to the very depths of her soul, she and Stacie would survive a breakup: they had walked away from each other before. From the start, through every stop and start, before their relationship had morphed into its current existence, they had always been willing to take what they had at present and leave it at that.

It had hurt to leave each time, but they had survived. Aubrey was almost certain they would survive this time, as well.

When Chloe spoke again, it was softer, almost broken: "How can you just walk away from someone you love?"

Because they've done it before. Because it was the only way Aubrey knew how to preserve whatever was left of Stacie's feelings for her, knowing how badly she could still screw things up. She had a whole litany of reasons why breaking up would be better, but faced with the one person who had never given up on her, whose steadfast loyalty had been her main source of support through most of her college life, Aubrey couldn't lie. "I don't want to."

"Then why…?"

"Because this is not who we are!" Aubrey almost yelled in frustration. "It's not who I want to be, who I want _us_ to be. I want to be someone who promises to be somewhere and actually _be_ there. I want to be where she is. I want her to have fun, to be the girl she is and the woman she still can be, and still feel like she's in an actual relationship where she's not waiting for me to be available for her. She should be able to dance with whomever she wants to and not worry how I feel about it. I want her to be confident enough to know that just because I can't answer a call doesn't mean I've completely forgotten her existence. And when we make plans, she deserves someone who can actually follow through on that." She shook her head. "So this? This relationship we're both struggling to keep intact? I'm never around and I don't see how that can change. And she deserves better than this. We both do."

"So make changes!" Chloe insisted. "You just said this isn't who you want to be, then change that."

"I'm not pressing pause on my entire career and future the way you did for a crush, Chloe!" Aubrey snapped.

Chloe recoiled, reacting to Aubrey's verbal attack as if it had been physical. "That's not—"

"No," Aubrey cut in, because after momentarily faltering and showing weakness by confessing that her personal beliefs regarding her relationship clashed with what she actually wanted, she needed to gain equilibrium back, and Chloe was the likeliest target. So instead she changed tack. "I love her. But this is my _job_ , Chloe. My entire life depends on this. People took a chance on me and I owe them the opportunity to prove they were right. My boss took a chance on me and gave me a career; I love Stacie, I do, but between her and the job, I—" she looked away quickly, bringing the back of her hand to her mouth, stopping more than just her words from escaping.

Chloe frowned, both in disappointment at the point Aubrey was clearly trying to make, and in confusion in the way Aubrey faltered at actually saying it out loud, the way her hand had come up in a way reminiscent of a younger Aubrey Posen, when her nerves tended to show. It took her a moment, but Chloe realized what was happening. "You can't even say it."

Aubrey glanced at her, hand still pressed to her mouth, because her company had spent a lot of money in creating Aubrey Posen, Oversight Committee Junior Executive, and she had no idea why the reflex would suddenly show up now.

Chloe pointed at her. "You talk a big game but you can't bring yourself to actually say it."

Aubrey bit down on the bile she could almost taste and managed to choke out, "So?"

Chloe shook her head, because while she knew she was right, she couldn't exactly say what any of it meant.

Realizing Chloe wasn't going to push the issue, Aubrey's shoulders sagged, both in relief and concession, because there was a reason why she valued Chloe's friendship as much as she did, even when they were estranged or at odds, and the way Chloe knew when to push and when to retreat was one of the biggest reasons. "I'm sorry."

Chloe lifted an eyebrow.

"What I said. Earlier." Aubrey said. She sighed. "I know it's more than just staying for a crush; I didn't mean to…" except she didn't know exactly what she'd hoped to accomplish by bringing up Chloe's extended stay in college, other than to divert the conversation from her own shortcomings.

Chloe smiled wryly. "Yeah, you kinda did."

"But I shouldn't have—"

"Bree." Chloe cut in gently, raising her hand in a stop gesture. "Stop. We both know how we feel about it, it's done. It doesn't fix anything."

Aubrey sighed again. "How the hell did we end up here?"

Chloe shrugged, because she had no idea, either. So instead she went with levity. "Fat Amy had tickets."

Aubrey wanted to smile, but her own answer was the original cause for the confrontation, and she didn't know how much she could really disclose to Chloe without getting her best friend upset again. But still she felt she needed to be honest. "Jill wanted me to meet her friends whose indie label is trying to be bought by two major companies." She glanced at Chloe, who looked up at her. "That guy Todd's one of them; Jill used to intern at a major record company until she started doing events, so she wanted us to work together on how her friends can get the best possible deal." She smiled faintly. "It's not middle management in a multinational conglomerate, and they can't really pay me much or anything, but it'll be something unrelated to my job and puts my name out there; if it works out, it's something I can put on my resumé."

Chloe winced, realizing now why Aubrey had been especially furious about how she'd acted at the party when she had interrupted Aubrey's conversation with Jill and some guy who had looked unnaturally happy to be talking to both Jill and Aubrey. Her protective instincts had kicked in – the part that wanted to protect Stacie from having to witness Aubrey's casual disregard of their relationship by being so overtly friendly with a woman who was clearly an ex, and the part that had always steered Aubrey away from inevitable self-destruction – and now she was being told she had badly misread the situation. "I'm sorry."

Aubrey nodded, but didn't offer words, and Chloe could understand: she had overstepped, and it was likely Aubrey would pay the price; and it was likely Aubrey couldn't say anything reassuring or tell Chloe it was fine until she knew if it really was.

Chloe exhaled, and ran her hands through her hair, trying to relieve some of the tension she felt. "God, what time is it?"

Aubrey checked her phone, and reported, "Eleven."

Chloe looked up at her. "Want to go back to the party? I'll even apologize and stuff."

Aubrey gave her a grateful smile, but shook her head. "I think I'll go back to the grounds."

"Want some company?"

"I'd like that."

Chloe got to her feet, and walked with Aubrey towards the path at the side of the house, earning herself a curious look. She shrugged in response. "It's not like I'm leaving with a total stranger."

From inside the house, Stacie watched as Aubrey and Chloe linked their arms together as they left, as if their fight mere minutes ago was already ancient history, envying Chloe for so easily being able to get past Aubrey's defenses and getting her to open up and get past whatever it was they had been fighting about.

Okay, it was pointless to pretend she didn't know what Aubrey and Chloe were fighting about, since she had been right beside Chloe when Jill had leaned in close to say something into Aubrey's ear and had probably set off some kind of alarm in Chloe's brain. She had tried to dissuade Chloe from doing anything because Stacie knew Aubrey was unlikely to resort to that kind of petty behavior and wouldn't have invited Stacie or Chloe or any of the other Bellas if she and Jill were doing anything untoward, but then Chloe had called in reinforcements in the form of Lilly and Fat Amy, and the minute Stacie had been distracted, had slipped away to go and say something to Aubrey.

Stacie hadn't seen much of that confrontation – her attention had been on preventing Fat Amy from taking pictures of some of the celebrity partygoers, because they were there on Aubrey's invitation and the last thing Aubrey needed was to get in trouble because the Bellas had no self-control – but the next thing she knew, Aubrey had been escorting Chloe out of the party, making the Bellas scramble after them.

The car ride back to the house had been filled with tense silence, with both Aubrey and Chloe shooting murderous looks at each other, and the car had barely come to a full stop when the two girls had practically jumped out of the car to pursue their fight.

Fat Amy had been the first one to try and follow them – shoving both Beca and Stacie out of her way so she could get out of the car first – and it had taken considerable effort from both Beca and Stacie, as well as the other Bellas, to prevent Amy from opening those patio doors and joining in on the fight.

She wasn't naïve. She knew how it looked. She knew some of the Bellas had come to the same conclusion Chloe had, and she knew they were looking to her on how to react, what to do next, if they were going to give Jill hell for daring to fall into bed with Aubrey at one point.

Except Stacie had realized earlier at the party that this must be how Aubrey felt at Barden, being in a room full of people and wondering how many of them Stacie had slept with at one point or another. Stacie was being monogamous now and hadn't slept with anyone since she and Aubrey became a real thing, but Stacie hadn't always been. And there had even been a time when Aubrey had been right there, watching Stacie flirt and flounce her way through people, all while believing that she would never be an option to Stacie.

And it would be easy – too easy – to do it again, to look for someone to flirt with and parade around Aubrey. But things with Aubrey were already fragile enough without resorting to truly damaging behavior.

Bseca made noise about wanting to watch one of the last shows, and everyone agreed that they had come to California for the music, which was why they ended up walking to the concert grounds.

As they had done the whole day, the Bellas split into separate groups, not agreeing on a single stage they all wanted to see. On her way to join the edge of the crowd at her chosen stage, Stacie's attention was caught by a lone figure standing just off the edge of the crowd, near the VIP area.

Aubrey didn't see her coming, but when she noticed someone standing beside her, Aubrey turned to check her identity, looking at Stacie for a long moment before looking away quickly.

Stacie couldn't even take offense in that reaction, because she imagine she would have felt the same, had their roles been reversed.

They stood together, watching the band and letting the music flood their senses, all while being acutely aware of each other's presence beside them.

That awareness was probably the only reason why Stacie didn't jolt in surprise when the casual brush of their hands together inevitably resulted in Aubrey tentatively slipping her hand in Stacie's. The hold was light, and if Stacie wanted to, she could easily slip her hand right back out. Instead, she tightened their hold, and glanced over at Aubrey to gauge her reaction.

Aubrey met her gaze, and for a moment Stacie almost forgot everything happening between them.

Almost.

But Stacie was getting clarity and a thorough understanding of why people described being in love by saying that all the songs made sense.

Because they do.

And she is.

And Aubrey holds her hand like she's the only anchor she has left.

A few more songs later – none of which Stacie can exactly recall – and she turns her head to face Aubrey, whose intense gaze informs Stacie that she had been looking at her for a while now. There's something in Aubrey's expression that emboldens her, and Stacie takes the words right out of the blonde's mouth.

"We need to talk."


	37. Chapter 37

It's weird to realize, after years of being fiercely independent and steering clear of relationships considering her aversion to being maybe not quite dependent, but _reliant_ on another person, that as they made their way back to the house, Stacie refused to let go of Aubrey's hand.

And from the way Aubrey was not charging on like a woman on a mission, instead walking at a deliberately slow pace, the blonde obviously felt the same.

Stacie so badly just wanted to skip over all the talking she knew they needed to do, so afraid of what could and would be said, the things she knew she didn't want to hear, and just… _be_ with Aubrey again.

She'd never understood serial monogamists or people who cheated - because if relationships weren't working out, maybe they needed to be alone for a while - but she understood part of it now, what it was like to feel lonely and adrift when you were so used to being with someone. She also now understood why emotional cheating was a real thing, because that belief she'd always had, about relationships and commitment and the hard work and intimacy they required, was a lot to put on another person, to trust them with so much of yourself…

It would be easier, she knew, to just kiss and make up and pretend the past few weeks hadn't happened. To carry on like everything was fine and trust that Aubrey had done the same amount of thinking and reflection and soul-searching as she had and believe that they would be better from that point forward.

And maybe she would have.

Except she didn't know what she wanted, beyond just wanting Aubrey, and she drew a complete blank on what Aubrey could possibly want.

When they got to the pool house, as Aubrey started to dig through her jeans for her keys, Stacie pulled her back. "Uh, maybe we can stay out here?"

Aubrey tilted her head in question, but nodded, stepping away from the door. She motioned to the side of the pool, and followed as Stacie led her to sit at the edge of the pool.

She did not know what it meant when Stacie let go of her hand to place her hands on the concrete on either side of her.

And for a moment, they were both reluctant to start the conversation, knowing that so much of what would happen next in their relationship was dependent on what would be said. And for two people unsure – or unwilling – to face that reality, the conversation waiting to happen felt like too much.

But it needed to happen.

"I thought you were in England." Stacie started.

Aubrey exhaled, turning to look at the pool. "I was for a few days."

"Why?"

Aubrey let out a dry, bitter chuckle as she stated the cowardly reason why she would issue an ultimatum and immediately take action to avoid the result. "So you can't break up with me."

Stacie glanced at her.

Aubrey kept her gaze on the water, resting her elbows on her knees and resting her chin on her clasped hands, deep in thought. "You never called."

"I'd hate to point out the obvious, but you never called, either."

"Yeah." Aubrey said softly. "I know."

Stacie studied Aubrey's profile, scrutinizing the way Aubrey held herself: the steady gaze elsewhere, the hard set of her jaw, the way she gave her hands something to do to prevent any telltale signs of nerves or otherwise.

"You didn't call," Aubrey stated, glancing briefly at Stacie before returning her gaze to the water. "And it occurred to me that there was more than one way that conversation could go."

"Aubrey…"

"So I left." Aubrey continued. "I left, because the prospect of you deciding this relationship wasn't worth the trouble was…"

Stacie furrowed her brow. "Why?"

"Because I spent a year, on and off, being a mess, and then you showed up and figured I was a mess you could deal with, but maybe I'm not, and you aren't, and I'm trying, but there's my job and the stuff it needs from me, and you, and what _you_ need from me, and something has to give, and I know that, but then you—"

Stacie looked at Aubrey expectantly, waiting for the rest of the statement but found herself hanging. "I… what?"

Aubrey looked at her, and smiled sadly. "And I'm not enough."

"Aubrey." Stacie shook her head. "That's not what I—"

"But you always mean what you say." Aubrey said softly. "It's something I love about you: I never have to guess. It's why you haven't called, and I know that, even if it kills me that it's taking you this long to make a decision."

"I love you too." Stacie told her. "But—"

"But things can't go on like this." Aubrey finished for her, and Stacie nodded.

"I don't want to be an afterthought to your job." Stacie admitted.

Aubrey nodded.

Stacie sighed, nodding to herself. They were making some inroads, but she wasn't sure where she wanted to take the conversation. So instead she diverted, glancing briefly at the direction of the house, and the complete lack of lights within. "What are you doing in Indio Valley?"

"One week vacation." Aubrey answered, seemingly nonplussed by the abrupt change of topic. "Jill has been trying to get me for a meeting for weeks, and she promised me VIP passes for both weekends." She pointed at the house. "I traded Cabo for a week-long stay here."

"Patty and Trina?"

"Trina's done Coachella every year since senior year. I offered to let her stay here, and she said she was with other girls, so they got the house, I took the pool house."

"Did they know you were coming?"

"I must have." Aubrey shrugged. "We talked, like, twice. Both times to talk logistics. I don't even know who the other girls are."

Stacie nodded, accepting Aubrey's answers. But she wasn't done. "The flowers?"

"Flowers?"

"At semis."

"I wasn't going to see you before semis started, and the florist closes at six, so if I ordered flowers and had them sent to the auditorium, when I get there, I'll have them ready."

"But you didn't get there." Stacie countered.

Aubrey's expression shadowed, and she looked away. "I explained that."

"Explain it to me again."

"Why?" Aubrey asked wearily, turning back to her. "It's the same story, nothing's changed."

"I just want to understand."

"There's nothing to understand, Stacie." Aubrey told her, with a tinge of exasperation. "It's my job. And there are people who rely on me to do my job, and to do it well. And that means if they call me in on my day off to help ensure a client can't renege on their deal, I actually have to go and do that, regardless of where I'd rather be."

"Would you do it again?"

"I don't have a choice."

Stacie looked at her. "Of course you do."

"Between a job that I have to do, and keep, if I want to continue to be fed, sheltered, and clothed? And you, who has her own mind and can make her own choices and could decide at any moment, even now, that this relationship isn't worth it?" Aubrey asked.

"Why do you keep saying that?"

"Saying what?"

"That this relationship might not be worth it." Stacie frowned. "Why would you—"

"I don't know." Aubrey admitted, shaking her head. She smiled wryly. "Because you'd be the first person I've been in a relationship with who would think otherwise?"

Stacie blew out a breath, and turned to face Aubrey, waiting until the other girl faced her to look Aubrey in the eye and make sure what she said next sank in. "I know things kind of suck right now, but whatever happens, our relationship was worth so much, Aubrey."

Aubrey smiled grimly, and looked away. "So that's how it is."

Stacie frowned at the easy dismissal of her statement. "What?"

"'Whatever happens'?" Aubrey repeated. "You literally _just_ said, 'whatever happens, our relationship _was_ worth so much'. You're already talking about us in past tense."

"I don't know!" Stacie exclaimed. "I love you, you know I love you. But this, here, us, now: this is how you break up with people."

Aubrey leaned away in a token gesture of putting distance between her and Stacie, which was a little hard to do given their current positions. "Excuse me?"

"You…" Stacie ran her fingers through her hair, and looked at Aubrey. "You're neglectful. When a relationship starts heading south, you don't like breaking people's hearts, so you neglect them. You let the relationship die. That's what you do." She shook her head. " _This_ is what you do."

Aubrey paled, never once considering how her focus on her job and responsibilities must have come across to the one person she had ever confessed her relationship sins to. "That's… That's not—"

"And I get it. Nobody likes being the bad guy in a relationship. But I thought I deserved better than—"

"I'm not trying to—" Aubrey stopped suddenly, and locked her jaw as she abruptly turned away.

Stacie frowned. "Aubrey?"

It took a moment, but Aubrey eventually regained her composure. She shook her head, trying to dispel the thought that had made her momentarily falter.

"Bree?"

"I'm not…" Aubrey started again, her pallor still pale and her expression now far more troubled than her earlier defensive stance, and then took a deep breath. "If that's what you thought, I'm sorry. I never meant for it to seem that way."

"Oh." Stacie frowned.

"I just never…." Aubrey frowned, as well. "I didn't think. I'm sorry."

"Do you?"

"Do I, what?"

"Want to break up?"

Aubrey met Stacie's gaze, and sighed. "You deserve better than this."

"I know." Stacie concurred. "But that doesn't answer the question."

Aubrey looked down, and away, and sighed heavily. "The selfless thing to say is that maybe we should."

"Aubrey."

Aubrey turned back to look at Stacie, and Stacie could see the conflict was evident within Aubrey from her expression.

"Yes or no, Aubrey." Stacie said quietly, because if Aubrey needed her to be the bad guy, to cut to the chase and be the one to say it, she would. It would break her heart to do it, but she would.

"No."

Stacie closed her eyes, maybe from relief, or maybe just to let the tension flow out of her.

Aubrey, for her part, also seemed to be catching her breath from the revelation. Or epiphany. Whatever it was, it felt like a cleansing, fortifying breath she hadn't realized she'd needed. It took everything inside her not to just cover the distance and reaffirm her feelings by kissing Stacie, but she knew they weren't done hashing their relationship out yet.

Because as much as she had vacillated between what she wanted and what she thought would be the best thing to do, she also knew that the decision wasn't just up to her.

And they were in their current position partly because Stacie hadn't called.

Stacie opened her eyes, sighing, and spoke again, but didn't turn to look at Aubrey. "I'm sorry about making a big deal about you liaising with Kathryn."

Aubrey frowned, studying Stacie's profile. "Have I ever given you a reason to think I would do that?"

"No." Stacie answered quickly. She sighed. "Maybe. I don't…" Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Aubrey flinch, and she sighed again. "I thought, maybe, if you wanted to break up, but didn't want to do it."

Aubrey bit the tip of her tongue, forcing herself not to react too badly, since she knew Stacie was just being honest. It didn't mean it didn't hurt, but presented with Stacie's perspective, she was understanding where Stacie's headspace was.

"I guess I just…" Stacie shrugged. "I feel left out, sometimes. From your life. You're off to wherever your job needs you to be, and I get it, you have NDA's all up in your literal business. And you used to tell me at least some of it, even vaguely, but now suddenly there's this liaison who gets to know stuff, and she gets to be in Carolina with you, who knew your grandparents lived in Carolina, and—"

"And I'm forced to spend time with because of our jobs," Aubrey finished, nodding.

Stacie nodded as well. "And now there's Jill? Who's like BET-hot and has her own source of income, who you actually chose to go to Coachella to see."

Aubrey rubbed her forehead. "I think this got lost somewhere, but I never dated Jill."

"But you slept with her."

"Because we were drunk."

Stacie pursed her lips, and opined, "She's friendly and close in a way that I don't think happened from just one night." And she would know: she was a former expert on one-night trysts with Aubrey Posen.

Aubrey's cheeks tinged red, but she managed to admit, "We slept together twice."

"Does she still want you?"

"No."

"Aubrey…"

"We were drunk." Aubrey repeated. "We're friends; and, yes, she's attractive, but she knows the deal. And she's always known the deal. I don't feel bad about hanging out with her while you and the Bellas are around because she knows she and I are friends first."

"What deal?"

"What?"

Stacie tried not to roll her eyes at Aubrey even as she reiterated her question. "She's always known what deal?"

Aubrey chuckled wryly. "You need to ask?"

"I guess I do."

Aubrey looked at her for one long moment before answering, "There was a girl. The best girl. The girl I wanted most: probably the only girl I'll ever want so badly. And we didn't stand a chance at the time because we weren't ready back then."

Stacie met her gaze, and felt in the way Aubrey looked at her the truth she was barely managing to say. "And are we, now?"

The faintest of smiles quirked Aubrey's lips, but her voice was soft when she noted, "That's not just up to me, though."

No, it wasn't.

Stacie turned her gaze away, looking back into the house across the pool from where they sat, and noticed the lights were on in one of the rooms. She turned back to Aubrey. "We're not breaking up."

Aubrey actually looked surprised, which just about broke Stacie's heart, realizing Aubrey had truly been bracing herself for a different response. Before Aubrey could say anything, Stacie cut her off.

"I don't mean to leave you hanging, but right now, that's all I really know." Stacie confessed. "I'm not ready to give up on us, on this, on _you_ , but we can't keep going on like this, either."

Aubrey, for her part, nodded her agreement. After all, she and Stacie were on the same page, there.

"But you're here now," Stacie continued, and smiled at Aubrey. "And it's easier to figure the rest of it out when you're around."

Aubrey nodded.

Satisfied with the knowledge that she and Aubrey were in agreement, Stacie glanced over at the house. "It's late."

"Yeah."

Stacie glanced at her. "You should go to sleep."

Aubrey smiled faintly. "Do I look that bad?"

"You look like you haven't slept in days." Stacie admonished. She reached over, prying Aubrey's hand away from the other to hold it and squeeze it lightly. "Get some rest, Aubrey."

Aubrey's response was preempted by the beeping of a phone. She cringed, and admitted, "that's mine."

Stacie arched an eyebrow, but offered no judgment as Aubrey checked the device.

Aubrey frowned at whatever she read, and glanced quickly at Stacie, who rolled her eyes good-naturedly.

"I'm not going to be insecure every time your phone rings, Aubrey." Stacie smiled, and leaned over to press her lips to Aubrey's cheek. "Answer it. And I'll see you in the morning."

Aubrey turned her head slightly as Stacie pulled back, and if she'd been braver, she would have covered the minuscule distance between their lips. But they had just barely crossed the impasse in their relationship, and haven't really fixed anything, so instead she watched Stacie lean back away and get to her feet.

"Good night, Aubrey." Stacie told her as she walked towards the house.

Aubrey nodded. "Good night, Stacie."

"Oh, and Bree?" Stacie called, once she was on the opposite side of the pool.

Aubrey looked up from her phone. "Yeah?"

"I'm really glad you're here instead of Cabo." Stacie told her.

Aubrey smiled, immediately returned with a similar broad smile from Stacie. It got impossibly wider when Stacie blew her a kiss.

"Go to sleep, baby, you need your rest." Stacie told her, before sliding one side of the kitchen doors open and stepping inside the house.

Aubrey smiled, buoyed by the outcome of her conversation with Stacie, and felt infinitely lighter from it. Her joy was dampened somewhat by the message she'd received, however, and she turned back to her phone, wondering how to respond.

She stood up, retreating into the pool house, where she was almost immediately startled by her phone ringing. "Hello?"

"Huh. Your phone was available."

"Stacie?" Aubrey asked, furrowing her brow in confusion.

"Was the message not important?"

"Not really, no." Aubrey replied.

"So you let me off with just a kiss on the cheek for no reason?"

Aubrey's brows knit. "I'm confused."

"Aubrey."

"Yeah?"

"I'm calling."

"I can tell."

There was a pause, and then: "Babe, this would be a really awesome gesture if you were on board."

"I don't—"

"Aubrey."

"Stacie."

"I want us to keep messing up together."

Aubrey laughed softly. "That's an apt, if not very romantic way of—"

Stacie grumbled something under her breath that Aubrey couldn't discern, but she could make out the word "impossible" in it, but didn't have time to question the muttering because there was a knock on her door.

Aubrey turned to open the door, and smiled at what she saw. Addressing her phone, she said, "I have to go."

Stacie arched an eyebrow. "After all this crap about me not calling?"

"Something more important came up."

"Your booty call showed up?"

"Wait, Chloe said nobody says that—"

"Is she hotter than me?"

"She's _here_ , so…"

Stacie rolled her eyes, ending the call on her end as she stepped closer to Aubrey. "You're impossible."

Aubrey grinned, closing the distance between them to kiss Stacie. "I love you, too."


	38. Chapter 38

She knows – she _knows_ – she and Aubrey still have a lot of issues to unpack, there were still factors to their erstwhile separation that needed to be examined, things they still needed to talk about.

But Stacie had woken up that morning on the same bed with Aubrey beside her, and all she could think of was how much she had missed the other woman. It had already taken everything in her to not reaffirm their commitment and connection to each other physically, definitely not the night before, not when everything still felt so raw. In a total contradiction from her usual mode of operation, Stacie had been reluctant for the intimacy of sex, but she had needed to feel their physical connection, and had simply asked Aubrey to hold her.

Because Stacie understood that sex was the easy part. She'd always known it, and it had been the breadth of her romantic relationships for so long; she and Aubrey had even fallen into that trap as recently as two weeks ago, after Aubrey's ill-conceived trip to North Carolina, and back then it had been easy to use their physical relationship to pretend everything between them had been fine.

Since then it had become obvious that their momentary reconciliation had only covered up a deeper problem, and in the aftermath of what could so easily have been the end of their relationship, Stacie wasn't so willing to fall back to that old pattern.

Even if she really wanted it. But wanting it and needing it were separate things, and she needed to just be with Aubrey.

Because as much as she needed that connection, Aubrey needed it too. Stacie had seen how Aubrey had held on to Chloe when they had first seen each other in California. Unlike Stacie, who could ask any of the Bellas for a hug and get it without questions or any hesitation, Stacie doubted there were a lot of people in Aubrey's life she could really go to just for physical – and platonic – comfort.

(The platonic part, Stacie wasn't ashamed to admit, was very important.)

And she hadn't been kidding when she'd told Aubrey she looked like she hadn't slept for days: maybe Aubrey seemed okay to almost everyone else, but Stacie could discern the underlying exhaustion in the lines of her body and even if Aubrey could conceal the dark circles under her eyes, the fatigue evident in her eyes gave her away.

So waking up beside Aubrey had caused a rush of feelings Stacie hadn't expected, including the beginnings of repair to the part of her that had been injured when she'd woken up a few weeks previous and found herself alone in her bed, with Aubrey's things gone and finding out only later that she'd had to leave when her company called for her to be in Nevada.

(Yes, the part where she wasn't crashing on sleeping bags or couches with the rest of the Bellas helped foster the warm and fuzzy feelings she woke up with.)

She could have called Aubrey out about watching her sleep, be playful about the inherent creepiness in people watching other people sleep, but the silence that had reigned between them in the early moments of their morning had been nearly sacred, neither of them willing to break it, and both of them still a little talked out from their conversation mere hours earlier.

It was a little hard to pinpoint on who had moved first, but one moment they were looking at each other, basking in each other's presence, and the next Stacie's hands were tangled in Aubrey's hair while Aubrey's own hands ran the length of Stacie's body as they got reacquainted.

And that was how they ended up missing breakfast with the Bellas, as well as more phone calls on Aubrey's phone from Jill, earning her a round of questions from Stacie.

"Why is she calling you?"

"I think she's not happy about me ignoring her messages." Aubrey admitted.

"The message last night was her?" Stacie asked. At Aubrey's nod, she pressed, "What could have been so important at one in the morning?"

"She wanted to see me last night," Aubrey confided.

Stacie arched an eyebrow. "At one in the morning?"

"I called in a favor." Aubrey confessed.

Stacie quirked an eyebrow.

"It's a surprise." Aubrey told her.

Stacie groaned, because sometimes Aubrey was just so pleasantly annoying. "Ugh, fine. But for the record, I'm still a little jealous; and I hate and love you for knowing I love surprises."

Aubrey laughed, because _of course_ that was partly why she had called in another favor with Jill.

The larger part was that after returning from England, and before she'd gotten on a plane to California, she had felt keenly the physical and emotional distance between herself and Stacie. They had been apart for longer than two weeks before, but their last conversation made Aubrey feel Stacie's absence a little more strongly than she had before.

She had considered the possibility that maybe Stacie needed something a little more tangible, a more physical reminder of their relationship instead of just phone calls and text messages and promises Aubrey tried but wasn't always certain she would get to keep; but had backed away from the possibility when she would remember, viscerally, that even if Stacie thought she was supposed to be in England, there had been no attempts at calling her despite the international long-distance rates.

And maybe she should have swallowed her pride and reached out first, especially now that she knew exactly how her actions had been perceived, but at the time, letting Stacie dictate how their relationship to continue had been the important thing.

But a mere twenty-four hours ago, seeing Stacie again, and having her feelings magnified when the physical distance between them was no longer a factor, and Aubrey had felt… Well, she'd needed to make things right. Whatever outcome Stacie ultimately decided for their relationship, Aubrey had been in a position to do something nice for Stacie – and maybe as a reminder that Aubrey wasn't a complete dolt in their relationship – and she'd asked Jill for a favor.

Yes, she knew Stacie would likely have had questions, like how was Aubrey repaying the favor, but what Aubrey had told her about Jill was true: they were friends first, and Jill had always known Aubrey still held out hope for the girl she'd left behind in college.

And whether she admitted to it or not, Aubrey wasn't above bribing her way back into Stacie's good side, whatever their romantic relationship may be.

She really did love Stacie's expression when she had been presented with it, though, as well as the look on her face the entire time they had been at the concert grounds.

"I know I should be more concerned about what you must owe to get backstage passes, but," Stacie smiled widely at Aubrey. "That was awesome, so I won't care for now."

Aubrey laughed. "I'm glad you liked it."

Stacie beamed. "How do you even score passes on short notice?" Before Aubrey could answer, she continued, "I mean, I know, _Jill_ , but how does _she_ score passes? And how are you in a position to even know someone cool enough to get passes?"

Aubrey paused, and then protested, pouting, "I'm cool."

Stacie chortled, but upon seeing Aubrey start to glare at her, immediately covered it up with a small cough. "I mean, sure. Okay."

"You suck."

"Baby, I love you, but…" Stacie gave her a doubtful look.

Aubrey rolled her eyes, conceding defeat. "If you must know, she used to work at a recording company that wanted to buy patented technology that one of our subsidiaries owns. It was a long process and we became friends mainly because we both didn't want to be there. She wanted to be in A&R and I was just put there because they wanted me to learn how to handle a negotiation."

This time, Stacie gave her look that spelled out her wariness.

Aubrey admitted, "She's the one who basically gave me a social life."

"So I can't hate her?"

Aubrey smiled. "You can't hate her."

Stacie rolled her eyes, but didn't challenge it. She did, however, leave her poolside chair and make her way to Aubrey's.

Aubrey watched her approach, and warned, "We won't fit."

"Oh, ye of such little faith," Stacie remarked, momentarily scrutinizing the chair and the physics of it, before joining Aubrey on the chair.

After a lot of contorting, and finding the most likely position they could share the chair, Aubrey laughed at the tight fit. "This is ridiculous, go back to your chair."

Stacie lifted herself on one elbow to look down pointedly at Aubrey. "We just spent a day with a girl you slept with twice. You are letting me squeeze into this chair and you're going to enjoy it."

Aubrey grinned at her. "I haven't said a word about not enjoying it."

Finally settling on lying half on top of Aubrey, Stacie arched an eyebrow at the blatant flirtation, and smiled seductively as she leaned in to kiss Aubrey. "I loved my surprise. Thank you."

They were just starting to really get into their kiss when it ended abruptly once a bag of chips was thrown at them, hitting Stacie's back and making Stacie break the kiss to glare at the culprit.

"Get a room." Fat Amy told them as she and the rest of the Bellas joined the couple by the pool. She turned to her friends. "Who bet one day?"

"Nobody was stupid enough to take your bet." Beca reminded, taking the bag of chips Stacie held out to her. "Where have you two been?"

"You really want to know?" Stacie said coyly, implying something far more licentious with her tone and the way she darted her eyes in Aubrey's direction.

Beca glared at her, and shook her head. "No."

"Yes." Cynthia Rose piped in. She gave Denise a look of innocence when the other girl gave her a look of exasperation.

Stacie grinned, because she had no doubt that the Bellas were doing their best to act as normal as possible, especially around Aubrey, considering how miserable Stacie had been the past week. She also knew they were all in a way making fun of her and Aubrey at their relationship's expense, but the Bellas were _trying_ , probably at Chloe or Beca's behest to be more welcoming and open to the relationship in general (and having Aubrey around, specifically) and she couldn't fault them for that.

Chloe sat on the chair Stacie had just abandoned, and glanced over at them. The answer was obvious, but she still felt compelled to ask, "Did you kiss and make up?"

"Something like that." Aubrey sat up, and gave Stacie a pointed look when the brunette pouted at her. "We have company."

"They don't mind." Stacie protested, but also sat up to lean back against Aubrey's front.

"We do." The group said in direct contradiction.

"Didn't Chloe say you were supposed to be in England?" Jessica asked Aubrey, curious.

"Just for a few days." Aubrey replied.

"What's in England?" Ashley asked.

Aubrey grumbled, "Work."

"So what are you doing in Coachella?" Denise queried.

Stacie pat the side of Aubrey's head sympathetically, and said alongside Aubrey, "Work."

"Is that all you do?" Flo asked curiously.

Stacie's playful, teasing response was quickly cut off by Beca with, "Don't even go there, Conrad."

Stacie laughed, acknowledging her friend's ability to know where she was going with her possible answer, and instead turned to Lilly as the other girl handed over drinks. "What have you girls been up to?"

As the Bellas caught up, Aubrey glanced over at Chloe, who caught her glance and smiled faintly when their gazes met, a silent understanding passing between them.

After all, Stacie was Chloe's roommate, and Aubrey had shared with Chloe all her reservations about pursuing the continuation of her relationship with Stacie; Chloe knew as well as Aubrey and Stacie did that one conversation did not resolve everything that had caused the pause in their relationship. Yes, Chloe had insisted that the couple just needed to talk and believed that they could work things out, but the thing that stood between them – the distance that constantly kept them apart – was not something easily remedied, and Aubrey felt a little guilty under Chloe's gaze, because Chloe had been her most steadfast supporter in recent years, and even at her worst, Chloe had believed in Aubrey ultimately knowing the right thing to do.

And this time, Aubrey felt like a fraud, because she didn't know what that was. She knew she needed to figure out a way to be more available to Stacie, to be more present and accessible, but as she had insisted to Chloe, she couldn't just quit her job.

Maybe Chloe didn't know the more intimate details, like the exact depth of affection Aubrey and Stacie shared and how long their relationship had been going on, or the fact that maybe they didn't know _exactly_ what they were doing, but Chloe knew enough, just from having been Aubrey's roommate for four years and being privy to Stacie's growth since her days as a promiscuous and hypersexual freshman, so she knew the insecurities that prevailed between her two friends.

And Aubrey also felt guilty about the accusation she had leveled at Chloe, about putting her life on pause for a crush, because that was an oversimplification of why Chloe was reluctant to graduate, and a part of Aubrey felt bad that after years of Chloe's unwavering support, she still could find it in herself to find a positive note in Chloe's decision to stay in college.

"Hey," Stacie's gentle voice called her attention, and Aubrey diverted her attention to her girlfriend. Stacie wasn't sure what had Aubrey looking so pensive, but they were in public, so instead she asked, "Some of the girls want to check out tonight's headliner. What do you think?"

Aubrey smiled faintly. "I think I'll still be here next week, so you're free to go."

Stacie pouted at her, but turned to the Bellas. "We've been there the whole day, I'm beat."

"Or are you trying to get rid of us?" Beca asked suspiciously.

Stacie scoffed. "Would I do that?"

A mixed chorus of "yes" and "maybe" answered her question.

Stacie glared at them, and turned to direct her pout back at Aubrey. "Baby, they're picking on me."

Aubrey gave her a knowing smile. "You're the one who wanted us to hang out with your friends."

"That hurts." Fat Amy told her, interrupting. When Aubrey and Stacie glanced over questioningly, she elaborated, "I thought we were bonded, you know? Me and you, all of us: Bellas all the way, or Bellas are forever, or something."

"Bellas for life." Both Aubrey and Chloe automatically corrected.

"And I drank whiskey shots with you," Beca recalled.

Aubrey gave her a wry look. "We all drank whiskey shots together."

"You're our cap, Posen," Cynthia Rose told her, followed by a chorus of agreement from the rest of the Bellas. "

"Our authoritarian and frightening and more-than-one-nightmare scary captain." Fat Amy added. When the Bellas gave her a look, she innocently defended herself, "I'm just keeping it real."

Beca rolled her eyes, shaking her head at the complete lack of self-control Amy had.

"And Chaubrey is forever." Chloe reminded, resuming an earlier point in the conversation.

Aubrey turned and they shared a smile, because everything else in their relationship might not be what it once had been, but their friendship was exactly that: forever.

"But I still don't know who you are." Flo admitted, breaking the moment.

Stacie shot Flo a wary look, which Flo returned with a look of innocence.

"You know if you want to catch the headliners you should be going back to the grounds." Aubrey reminded.

"Now _she's_ trying to get rid of us." Jessica announced, even as she and the rest of the Bellas were already getting to their feet. Everyone exchanged good nights, as those who weren't heading back to the concert grounds opted to call it a night and made their way inside the house.

As Beca passed, however, Aubrey caught her arm. "Jeez, Aubrey!"

Aubrey handed her the backstage pass. "Now you can't say I never gave you anything."

Beca looked down at the pass, and then back up at Aubrey in amazement. "I think I want to hug you," but was promptly pulled away by Lilly towards the exit, preventing anyone from closely examining that declaration or try to make it happen.

Once everyone had gone and they were once again left alone outside by the pool, Stacie glanced at Aubrey, amused. "Aww, they like you!"

Aubrey rolled her eyes, but Stacie could tell the Bellas telling Aubrey she was still considered to be one of them, still unofficially their captain, had been a pleasant surprise to Aubrey.

"They're _our_ friends now." Stacie added. "You're in this."

Aubrey groaned. "I know."

Stacie grinned. "And Beca wants to hug you."

"Don't start."


	39. Chapter 39

She'll admit, when the Bellas had first proposed taking a last-minute flight to a haphazardly-planned trip to one of the most populated Spring Break concert events, she had genuinely considered staying in Barden and doing her homework would have been a better use of her time. Heart strained to near-breaking and thinking of a phone conversation gone wrong seemingly on an endless loop hadn't been ideal, but neither was the prospect of spending time in the middle of a desert, concert or no concert.

If she had known she would be spending most of her time in the California desert with Aubrey and being brought to a bunch of parties that doubled as work events for Aubrey and Jill, she would have brought a lot less casual wear and more stuff to subtly seduce Aubrey with.

Not that anyone really noticed, or that she really needed any help from any kind of clothing, or even that she and Aubrey were capable of spending even one night apart.

Because whatever epiphanies Aubrey might have had during their week-long silent treatment, a part of it seemed to be the resolve to never let Stacie, even for one minute, doubt their relationship.

It's not that Aubrey has suddenly turned into a clingy, dependent girlfriend, but she made it a point to consider Stacie when she made plans, asking her if she wanted to join them in attending meet-and-greets or listening parties, even completely opting out when Stacie didn't want to go. It was, and Aubrey admitted as much, her way of making up for lost time, to be able to enjoy just spending time with Stacie without worrying about a job she needed to be doing.

And while that was undoubtedly rewarding, Stacie couldn't help but feel that Aubrey seemed to be operating under some kind of timer, as if their time together was running out – which could very well be the case, since Stacie and the rest of the Barden Bellas were heading back to Georgia on Saturday and Aubrey was due back at work once her week-long vacation was over. And going back to their regular lives meant they were going back to the same things that had led to their momentary break.

It was something Stacie didn't particularly enjoy giving much thought to, but she still felt like it needed to be addressed.

"You know, I've been thinking," Stacie began, wrapping an arm around Aubrey's waist as she pressed up against the blonde from behind, and looking over her shoulder to frown at the lengthy block of text on the screen of Aubrey's tablet.

Aubrey smiled, "How's that going?"

"Don't be mean."

Aubrey chuckled. "Go on."

"You obviously can't leave your job."

Aubrey hummed her agreement.

"And you told me your boss wants to keep you in New York more but one of the reasons why you're still traveling is because it's the easiest way to see me more often." Stacie continued.

Aubrey paused, unsure of where Stacie was going with her individual points, "Yes…"

Stacie leaned down, setting her chin on Aubrey's shoulder, and mused, "What if I applied for NYU?"

That made Aubrey stop, momentarily freezing in place, before she cleared her throat and managed, "What would you study?"

"I'm going to finish my double major," Stacie frowned, pulling away from Aubrey and moving to sit off to her side, so she can look her girlfriend in the face. "What the hell was that?"

"What?" Aubrey feigned innocence.

"That pause." Stacie told her. "What's so wrong about—"

"What about the Bellas?" Aubrey countered.

Stacie shrugged, conveying a nonchalance she didn't really feel. "They'll manage. People are lining up to join the Bellas."

"That's not…" Aubrey closed the cover on her tablet and set it aside before she turned to fully face Stacie. "Why would you leave Barden? Granted, its academic standing isn't the best, or anything, but you're talking about leaving the Bellas, a double major program, _and_ talking about moving to a new school in a new city for your final year. Why?"

"So I can spend more time with you?" Stacie proposed, lilting her tone as if to indicate the 'duh' inherent in it.

Aubrey winced. "That's not a good enough reason."

"Bree—"

"No, I'm not," Aubrey took a deep breath, and shook her head. "This isn't about what you said, or how I interpreted it, or a lifetime of not being good enough, I'm talking about uprooting your life for a relationship that's barely a year old."

"You say that, but maybe you're forgetting the fact that we've been hanging out with your friend whom you've explicitly told about a girl you've been hung up on since we met." Stacie reminded.

Okay, that was fair, but being hung up on a girl and moving an entire life for a relationship were two very different things. "Stacie…"

"I know you think it's naïve, or maybe even stupid, but you've made the case about long-distance relationships before," Stacie argued. "Call me crazy, but I don't want us to break up the next time one of us has a crisis of faith."

Aubrey opened her mouth to reply, paused, and had to ask: "'A crisis of faith'?"

Stacie faltered, hesitating, before she grumbled, "shut up."

"No, it's…" Aubrey tried to find the right word, but she found it endlessly endearing that Stacie had obviously stumbled into an internet search engine rabbit hole of relationship advice, because she knew her girlfriend, and Stacie was a facts and figures girl. For her to be spouting off phrases like the one in question was a clear indication that the suggestion she was putting forth was not something she was pulling out of thin air. She sighed, letting some of her mirth and amusement fade, as she considered the depth of what Stacie was suggesting. "It's not because it's crazy."

Stacie arched an eyebrow.

"You have to admit, it's a little crazy," Aubrey prodded, but Stacie didn't verbalize an agreement. She blew out a breath. "And I'm not going to say you don't know what you're talking about, because maybe you do. And it definitely sounds tempting." Aubrey admitted. "But."

Stacie made a face.

"But schools in New York are a lot more expensive than Barden, and you're on a scholarship: don't waste that. And that's not just the part of me that screens people for promotions talking. I'm also talking about the fact that you just have one year left before you graduate." Aubrey reminded. "Who knows what'll happen then. Or even between this moment and your graduation. You don't know what you'll be up to or what you'd be doing."

Stacie's lips quirked. "Or what _you'd_ be doing."

"Or," Aubrey agreed.

"As long as we're still doing each other," Stacie noted.

Aubrey let out a soft laugh. "That's the plan."

Stacie rolled her eyes. "But it's _Barden_. What even happens in Barden?"

Aubrey shrugged. "Maybe something will happen during your summer tour."

"It's collegiate a cappella," Stacie reminded dryly. "I seriously doubt anything too exciting can happen." She paused, and grinned: "Other than a hot girl displaying an ability to projectile vomit, but-"

Aubrey glared at her. "Remember that sex we're never having again?"

Stacie frowned at her. "Don't even joke about that."

"Pick your battles, Stacie."

Stacie rolled her eyes, but they digressed. "So that's a 'no' on me moving to New York next year?"

"That's a no." Aubrey confirmed.

"Pretty sure that could've gotten me some hot girlfriend points."

"Your girlfriend is practical."

Stacie smirked, moving closer to Aubrey and straddling her thighs. "Maybe you have some hot secret other girlfriend you don't want me to know about."

Aubrey rolled her eyes, even as she placed her hands on either side of Stacie's hips to hold her in place. "Sure. And when I'm not moving my schedule and finances around to keep my job and enjoy my relationship with you, I totes have fun with my imaginary second girlfriend."

"I'll claw her eyes out." Stacie declared.

"That's why I love you." Aubrey replied, smiling as Stacie leaned in to kiss her.

After a few moments, just when Aubrey slanted her head to deepen their kiss, Stacie pulled back and asked: "Breakfast?"

Aubrey whined. "Now?"

"Store up some energy." Stacie mused.

Aubrey sighed, but couldn't argue. She nodded, and they soon found themselves in the kitchen of the main house, with Stacie preparing coffee while Aubrey prepared some scrambled eggs.

Not soon after, probably smelling the food, the girls sleeping in the living room area of the house started to stir.

"Look at who came up for air," Beca teased as she and a handful of Bellas joined Aubrey and Stacie at the dining table. It was an overstatement, but she wasn't completely exaggerating about the fact that the Bellas haven't seen much of Aubrey or Stacie during the week. "Good to know you're not _completely_ subsisting on sex."

Stacie shrugged and deadpanned, "Tuck your toner back in your pants, Beca, she's mine."

There was a pause, a collective moment of stunned silence around the table, Aubrey's shoulders started to shake, betraying her amusement, which then allowed the other Bellas to express their own amusement; however Beca turned bright red in response. "That's- No. No!"

"It's okay, Beca, there's no shame in admitting you're into Aubrey," Stacie said comfortingly.

"You're going to give her a complex." Jessica warned.

"Or emotional trauma." Beca protested.

"But, Beca, we had whiskey shots together," Aubrey said earnestly, unable to help herself from teasing the other girl and using Beca's own reminder of their grudging friendship in the process.

"I hate you all." Beca grumbled, grabbing a piece of toast from the table and biting into it, hunching over as if someone would fight her for the piece of bread.

"Last two days in California," Cynthia Rose noted. "What should we do?"

"I don't know," Stacie mused, glancing over at Aubrey. "Bree?"

Aubrey's attention, however, was on her phone, which had sounded with an incoming message. She frowned, and distractedly told the others at the table, "I have to take this." She stood up, letting her hand drift over Stacie's shoulder as she passed the seated girl on her way out the patio doors.

Stacie watched her go, lips pulling into a pout, before she shook her head, and turned to her friends. "We'll probably end up hanging out with Jill again."

"Or you could hang out with us and not your girlfriend, like you have been the whole week." Jessica pointed out, to Lilly's agreeing nod.

Stacie scoffed, laughing lightly as she said in defense, "I haven't been spending that much time with Aubrey."

The statement was met with looks of incredulity, as the Bellas have hardly actually seen or hung out with Stacie since she and Aubrey made up.

"I haven't!" Stacie protested.

"We went to a club the other night," Ashley told her.

"And Chloe made us check out the installations yesterday," Jessica added. Beside her, Lilly added something that for all their efforts, none of them could discern.

Beca turned to Stacie as she reached for a new piece of toast, and reiterated, enunciating the syllables slowly, "we looked at the _installations_."

Stacie tried not to smile at the horror in Beca's tone.

Cynthia Rose addressed Stacie. "Point is, _we've_ hung out."

"Face it, Stace, you're that girl now." Denise teased.

Stacie opened her mouth and closed it, unsure of how to proceed, until she settled on: "Well, my girlfriend's hot and I'm getting laid, so."

Jessica gave her a mocking thumbs-up. "Clever burn."

"Shut up." Stacie retorted as Chloe joined them at the table. Chloe glanced around, taking the piece of toast from Beca's hands, and settled on the seat Aubrey had abandoned.

"Dude." Beca frowned, reaching for more toast.

"What are we talking about?" Chloe asked curiously.

"What to do for our last two days." Denise told her.

"Didn't Fat Amy want us to go to a party at a hotel somewhere?" Chloe asked.

"We're trying to convince Stacie to hang with us and not Aubrey." Jessica added.

Chloe glanced at Stacie, and then turned to the rest of the Bellas. "The options are to hang with us or keep getting laid? I love each and every one of you, but I'm gonna vote for sex."

"Yes." Stacie held up her hand, and accepted the high five Chloe gave her.

"Gross, you don't know where that hand's been." Beca muttered.

"She's sleeping with Aubrey," Chloe reminded. "Hygiene is observed, no matter what."

Beca shook her head. "I did not need to know that."

"Nobody did." Jessica agreed.

"But seriously, where have you been?" Ashley asked Stacie.

"We know you and Aubrey went out yesterday, so we're almost sure you haven't just been 'catching up' in the pool house," Chloe added.

Stacie wanted to tell them all about the progress she and Aubrey have been making, catching up both literally and metaphorically, but she found herself unwilling to share more than a few arbitrary details about her relationship with Aubrey, so instead she admitted, "We've mostly just been hanging out."

Jessica queried, "With Jill?"

"And a bunch of other people." Stacie added.

"I thought we didn't like Jill." Ashley voiced, turning to Chloe inquiringly.

Chloe lifted her hand in the air, as if to indicate how she didn't know, either, and Stacie tried to guess what exactly went down between Aubrey and Chloe and their fight after Jill's party.

Ashley's hand darted out, and prevented Lilly from consulting her phone to confirm whether or not they should hate Jill. She shook her head when Lilly articulated this.

"Trina wants to hang out, maybe Aubrey wouldn't mind doing that," Beca suggested, although Stacie couldn't tell if Beca was bringing it up for her benefit, or if she, too, had noticed the way Aubrey and Chloe were both trying to avoid spending time together or Chloe's active avoidance of the older former Barden coeds also living in the house. It was a sticking point that made Stacie wonder what had been said during Chloe's argument with Aubrey, because while things seemed fine on the surface, she knew both Aubrey and Chloe missed each other, and it was weird that they weren't finding time to spend more time away from the other girls.

Then again, Aubrey was obviously making it a point to spend as much time as possible with Stacie, so it wasn't implausible for her best friend to let her do that without making a fuss.

Stacie watched Aubrey on the opposite side of the patio doors, and considered the fact that they only had a few days left before they had to return to their regular lives.

Stacie hadn't been entirely half-assing her earlier proposition to Aubrey - even if she hadn't had most of the details ironed out yet – but she would be lying if she said she wasn't a little relieved Aubrey had shot the idea down. She wanted to spend more time with Aubrey, but she knew uprooting and moving her life wasn't the most sensible solution.

She just wished there was a way for them to see each other more without being dependent on Aubrey's job to bring her near Barden.


	40. Chapter 40

Considering the amount of time she and Stacie have spent in hotel rooms, and how the relationship even started, Aubrey had never seriously given any consideration to the fact that she should be used to the sight of Stacie packing near the end of their hotel rendezvous.

Because the startling revelation she acquires, watching Stacie begin the process of packing up her stuff to prepare for the Bellas' flight home on Saturday, is the insight as to why there are so many sad songs about lovers packing their bags.

It's depressing, for one thing. And it takes an awful lot of willpower for her not to beg Stacie to stay; but she knows the Bellas have school to get back to, classes to attend – Stacie is an honors student and her classes weren't exactly the kind to be inconsequential in the long run.

But she wants to.

And if she hadn't already known the story of the circumstances of the Bellas being at Coachella, she would question why they got passes for the first weekend and a flight only for the following Saturday morning.

But she digressed.

"Okay, you're kind of depressing me." Stacie declared, dumping some of her clothes into her bag and turning to Aubrey. "Stop giving me sad eyes."

"But I'm sad." Aubrey said petulantly. "And do you really have to hang out with the Bellas tonight?"

"Yes, because when they talk about that time we went to Coachella in the future, I'd like to know some of the stuff they're talking about."

"But you attended listening preview parties," Aubrey reminded.

"That none of the other Bellas went to."

"Considering how Chloe treated Jill the one time they were in the same room together?" Aubrey reminded. "And don't think I didn't notice how everyone took their cue from her."

"To be fair to Chloe, that was kind of your fault." Stacie pointed out.

"You know they could've joined us anytime, right?"

"You could have invited them."

"Or you could have." Aubrey countered.

Stacie rolled her eyes, and joined Aubrey on the bed, looking at the blonde seriously. "Okay, now you're just being really weird."

"I'm not being weird."

"Uh huh. What's this really about?"

Aubrey pouted, but she expressed, "I'll miss you."

And Stacie knew Aubrey wasn't just talking about that evening. "We'll figure this out, Aubrey."

"I know, I just," Aubrey let out a forlorn sigh. "I just got you back."

Stacie gave her a wry glance. "I didn't go anywhere."

"You know what I mean."

They both did, but for all the time they had spent together the past week, they hadn't been able to resolve the issue of maintaining their relationship when Aubrey's job – and the amount of travel it required her to do – was still such a major factor. It was easy for Aubrey to promise to be there for the ICCA Finals in Lincoln Center, since she could always find a reason why she had to stay at her main office, or to try and visit Stacie in Barden more often, but the operative part of that sentiment was that she could only promise to _try_.

And since Stacie had already expressed her frustration that the distance and Aubrey's absence made her feel left out of Aubrey's life, Aubrey knew it was up to her to resolve that problem.

Jill rolled her head to the side and eyed Aubrey warily. "Then get her involved more, you love-struck idiot."

Beside Aubrey, Trina chuckled, because from her experience, Aubrey got called a lot of things, but _love-struck_ or _idiot_ were not among them. She and Aubrey hadn't been particularly close back in Barden – save for the solidarity that came from being Bellas together and the kinship shared by people who survived Alice's rule of terror (barely, in Aubrey's case, and bailed, in Trina's) – but given the opportunity to hang out with the girl, Trina wasn't about to say no.

Besides, Aubrey's girlfriend was leaving with the other Bellas, and that meant there was a backstage pass up for grabs.

Aubrey ignored Trina's laughter to address Jill's assertion, "What do you mean?"

"I mean stop just being her girlfriend and let her be yours." Jill said flatly.

"I don't—"

"Has she even been to New York?" Jill questioned.

Aubrey's jaw clacked shut, because that was a good point.

Trina glanced over at her. "She's never gone to see you in New York?"

"She's in school." Aubrey reminded, defending Stacie's lack of travel arrangements to her current home state. "And I travel regularly to the area, she's never had to."

"Does she know about your roommate?" Jill challenged.

"I've told her about Wes," Aubrey nodded.

Trina lifted an eyebrow. "Your roommate's a guy?"

Aubrey rolled her eyes. "It's not as salacious as it sounds."

"So you admit it sounds salacious." Trina pointed out.

"It's rent-free." Aubrey said flatly. "I pay for utilities, and we live separate lives. Stacie knows this."

"How did you manage to find a rent-free apartment in New York City?" Trina pressed.

"Long story." Aubrey replied. "But I helped him sell some software, and in exchange he lets me live rent-free." She turned back to Jill. "What's your point?"

"My point is you're involved in her life." Jill said, not dropping a beat on the Aubrey-and-Stacie situation. "Even beyond having already been friends with the Barden Bells-"

"Bellas." Aubrey and Trina automatically corrected.

Jill shook her head, not bothering to amend what she'd said. "But she's not involved in yours."

Aubrey frowned.

"And I get it, it's mostly work, and it's boring, and there's maybe one or two people you'd rather she never know about—"

"Oh?" Trina asked, intrigued. She looked at Aubrey. "Are there deep, dark secrets in your New York closet, Aubrey?"

"It's not that," Aubrey interrupted, trying to divert the conversation away from where Trina wanted to bring it. "It's not that I don't want her more involved in my life, or that she's too busy to come and see me; I like that when I'm with her, all those other things aren't as important. I like that when I'm with her, it's just me and her."

"But that's unrealistic." Trina pointed out.

"And that's a hell of a lot of avoidant baggage to put on her," Jill added.

Aubrey sighed. "I know." She shook her head, mostly in self-recrimination. "I know, and I'm trying to ease her into it, but I'm afraid that at one point the baggage that's basically my life will be too much for her, and—"

"And nothing." Jill reminded. "It's a relationship. And she gets to be the one to have a say if she can handle the baggage that is being the girl in a relationship with Aubrey Posen."

Aubrey paused, before a smile started tugging at her lips, "I do like that she's the girl in a relationship with me."

"Obviously not as much as you like being the girl in a relationship with Stacie." Jill pointed out. "But maybe you should be."

Aubrey frowned, giving that assertion some consideration.

Trina shook her head. "I'm still a little surprised by this-" she looked at Aubrey, "—but were you always into girls in college?"

Aubrey scowled at her. "Yes."

"But she didn't really do anything about it until after she graduated," Jill added.

Trina lifted an eyebrow, and indicated them both. "Were you the one who-?"

"No." Aubrey said shortly.

"She wishes." Jill retorted.

"I really don't," Aubrey shot back.

Trina frowned. "Did the other Bellas know?"

"Not really." Aubrey admitted. "Well, Chloe did, obviously. And Laura." She said, mentioning their Bella captain when they had been freshmen.

"And you and Stacie were a thing when you were Bellas together?" Trina pressed. "Is that even allowed?"

"We weren't. Not until last summer." Aubrey answered. "And there's nothing written in the handbook."

Jill frowned. "There's a handbook?"

"Some Bella captains took their job very seriously." Trina explained. She pointed at Aubrey. "Exhibit A."

"It's collegiate a cappella." Jill reminded, confused as to how anyone could take _that_ seriously.

"It's not entirely about the singing," Trina admitted. "A lot of the reason why we stuck with it was because of the friendships."

"Until they quit." Aubrey remarked, still a little peeved that Trina quit, and that she never returned to the Bellas even when she knew Aubrey and Chloe had been struggling to get a new team together.

Trine turned to her. "I was trying to keep my head above water so I can graduate on time, Aubrey. And besides, Alice was a bitch, and you know it. And a lot of us don't have your resiliency."

Jill glanced at the two girls, and noted, "It's not just her innate stubbornness?"

Aubrey rolled her eyes when Trina agreed, but she knew there was some truth to the assertion. Becomes sometimes she just didn't know when to quit.

And sometimes, even if those moments were rare, that was a good thing.

Later that night, Aubrey looked up from her tablet, having been going through a work email chain she was copied but not yet actively involved in, and smiled when a clearly-inebriated Stacie Conrad stumbled through the doorway of the pool house. "You're drunk."

"I'm—" Stacie began to correct, but rolled her eyes and shook her head as she shut the door behind her. "Nope. Yup, I'm drunk."

Aubrey watched with amusement as Stacie tossed her purse aside and started removing her clothes. "A little presumptuous, aren't you?"

"Psh," Stacie waved her hand dismissively, "You're my girlfriend. You're totally willing to get up on this." She motioned to herself, and Aubrey had to admit, even at Stacie's state of clumsy dishabille, the girl was hot.

"Did you enjoy your night out with the Bellas?"

"We went drinking." Stacie told her, and then her eyes widened. "Don't tell anyone we were doing some underage drinking."

"At least you don't have to date a bartender to do it anymore."

Stacie snorted at the reminder, and then giggled when she remembered why Aubrey knew that, saying, "I can't believe you slept with an intern."

"I can't believe you slept with a corporate superior," Aubrey returned.

Stacie laughed loudly. "She was really hot."

Aubrey rolled her eyes good-naturedly, and set aside her tablet as Stacie sat down on the edge of the bed and turned towards her. At first Aubrey thought Stacie was going to crawl over in a seductive move, but then when she got closer to Aubrey, she merely slumped over and placed her head on Aubrey's lap, grabbing her hand and holding it in her own against her stomach.

Stacie groaned. "I'm so drunk."

Aubrey chuckled, running her hand over Stacie's hair, occasionally raking her fingers through her dark tresses. "I can tell."

Stacie pouted. "Don't make fun."

"I'm not." Aubrey replied, smiling down at her. "Did you have fun?"

"The funnest." Stacie nodded. "Would've been moreso if you'd come along."

"Babe you know that could go either way." Aubrey pointed out.

"Because you were a bitch." Stacie commented.

Aubrey blew out a breath and concurred, "because I was a bitch."

"Still hot, though." Stacie assured her.

"Glad you think so."

Stacie hummed contentedly, before she suddenly stopped and a frown crossed her features. "Were you frowning at your pad thingy again?"

"Yes."

"You're on a vacation."

"Which is why I'm still here and not yelling at people elsewhere."

Stacie gave this thought, and nodded. "Good. Because I like you here."

"Yeah." Aubrey agreed. "Me too."

They fell into a comfortable lull in their conversation, Stacie humming and occasionally softly singing along to a song Aubrey didn't recognize, while Aubrey occupied herself with smoothing out Stacie's hair.

Aubrey glanced at the girl, and because there was a feeling of foreboding that came from the email thread she had been reading – a feeling she had ignored the last time her time with Stacie was interrupted by an email – she asked, "what will you be up to, in the next few weeks?"

"School. Bellas." Stacie made a face. "More school. More Bellas."

"Practicing for finals?"

Stacie lifted her free hand, and made a "so-so" gesture. "We have a bunch of awesome sets backed up from semis. We might just work on one of those." She shrugged, as much as she could given her lying position. "What's up?"

"Think you can take some time off?"

"Co-caps owe me one, so maybe." Stacie opened one eye to peer up at the blonde. "We gonna hook up in a hotel somewhere?"

"Maybe."

"Cool." Stacie nodded. "I can make that happen."

Aubrey smiled, and returned her gaze to Stacie's hair.

"Babe?"

"Yeah?"

"I'mma little drunk," Stacie started. She squeezed Aubrey's hand she was holding to allay whatever witty retort Aubrey was going to say, and continued, "I'm drunk, and it sounds out of nowhere, but hear me out, 'kay?"

"Okay…?" Aubrey prompted.

"Yeah, so you think it'd be cool if I come up and come see you in the city one day?" Stacie asked. "I have tickets and stuff, and I won't even make a mess or anything, I have finals to study for anyway and you can ignore me if you have to work and stuff."

"Stace—"

"I just really like being around you and sleeping with you and not-sleeping 'sleeping with you', if you know what I mean." Stacie furrowed her brow, and looked at Aubrey seriously. "Do you _know_ what I mean?"

"I know what you mean." Aubrey confirmed.

"Good." Stacie nodded again, and bit her lower lip nervously, looking up at Aubrey. "What do you think? Can I come up sometime?"

She was so in love with this girl she didn't know how she had thought she could willingly not be in a relationship with her. Aubrey smiled at her, "I'd like that."

Stacie smiled back. "Awesome."

Aubrey grinned, because now they had a plan.

Stacie glanced down her body and her state of undress, and then looked back up at Aubrey. "I'm already almost naked, wanna celebrate how awesome we are?"


	41. Chapter 41

When she had first proposed the idea of seeing Aubrey in New York City, Stacie had, admittedly, been drunk, and whatever consideration that had gone into the process of making that decision had been buoyed by two things: a desire to be with Aubrey, and the fact that the Bellas had a whole group of sets they had prepared for semis that they could easily adapt to the requirements of the ICCA Finals.

The latter was hampered somewhat by Beca's refusal to just reuse something she had prepared for _semifinals_ , but they had still taken a vote on which of their backup sets would be Plan B in case of a creative emergency. Being one of the people in charge of costumes and choreography, Stacie was hoping Beca got her mix ready in time, because the Bellas were still up in arms against the grueling schedule of their rehearsals from semifinals.

The former, however. The former was complicated. Stacie had remembered Aubrey's Christmas gift while they had been in California, and while Aubrey may have bought the tickets for Stacie so she could visit Aubrey at will – and admitted as much – a part of Stacie had briefly wondered why Aubrey had never extended a more formal invitation before.

The self-doubt hadn't lasted long, though, as Stacie considered the fact that she hadn't ever asked Aubrey about visiting, either, and realized that Aubrey had technically handed Stacie the ball when she'd given her the tickets.

So now she had tickets, _and_ a standing invitation to go see her girlfriend in New York.

Which was a good thing, because the first week of their return from California, the Bellas had something imposed as a new rule in the house.

Stacie furrowed her brow. "What do you mean, I can't have sex in the house anymore?"

"We mean, you can't have sex in the house anymore." Fat Amy said flatly.

"Where am I supposed to have sex?" Stacie asked, confused.

"The same place the rest of us have to," Cynthia Rose reminded in a matter-of-fact tone. " _Anywhere else._ "

Stacie frowned, and glanced over at Chloe for help.

"It affects me too," Chloe shrugged, "It's a blanket rule, or something."

"It's unfair for people like me and Beca, who have to go elsewhere to have sex with Jesse or Bumper." Fat Amy added.

Beca reddened, and loudly muttered something about her preference of losing important body parts than ever having sex with Bumper.

"I don't understand," Stacie admitted. "Is this because it's Aubrey?"

"It's because it's a double standard for Aubrey, who has an open invitation to the house since she's a Bella, to get to sleep on your bed whenever she wants, when Jesse can't even spend the night with Beca." Denise explained.

Stacie furrowed her brow. "I thought that's because Beca chose the loft, that doesn't have a door…?"

"Please stop using me and Jesse as an excuse for this," Beca requested of her friends. She turned to Stacie. "I had nothing to do with this."

"I know." Stacie assured her, because for some reason, she actually _did_ trust Beca to be one of the few to actually not be involved in any action that hindered Stacie's relationship with Aubrey. "And you all agreed on this?"

"Yes." They chorused.

"And I have no say in it?" Stacie pouted.

"It was a majority." Flo informed her, making Stacie scowl.

"It's not because it's Aubrey, specifically." Jessica attempted, trying to inject calm in the rapidly-devolving discussion. "We actually love that you guys are okay again. But you have to agree it's weird for you to be having sex in the house with everyone knowing what you're doing. And it doesn't help that Chloe's been locked out of your room for long periods of time when Aubrey _is_ here."

"That was like one time." Stacie protested.

"Over a stretch of an entire weekend." Ashley piped in.

A point well made, and Stacie opted not to pursue that particular clause in her argument. "So, what, Aubrey can visit but we can't have sex?" Which basically ruined the whole point of Aubrey coming to visit, but whatever.

"It's not just Aubrey." Denise reminded.

"This affects me most, so it's about Aubrey." Stacie argued. "Can't I at least have a penalty jar?"

Denise was quick to acquiesce, Lilly seemed to think it over, and both Beca and Ashley slowly started to express their verbal agreement, but the rest weren't so sure.

Chloe had good reason to be doubtful on the implementation of a penalty jar as a deterrent. "Aubrey has a steady income and has a company expense account." She reminded.

Stacie rolled her eyes, and threw her hand up to express her frustration. "So how am I supposed to have sex with Aubrey when she visits?"

"She can afford a hotel room." Jessica noted.

"I can't believe this." Stacie grumbled. "What am I supposed to tell her?"

"That nobody's allowed to have sex with outsiders in the house," Fat Amy declared.

Cynthia Rose paused, perking up slightly, and tilted her head to the side thoughtfully. "So…"

"No." Denise told her.

Stacie groaned, and nodded in resignation. "Fine. But for the record, I offered to have a penalty jar."

"You'll do everyone's chores if you break the rule." Fat Amy said quickly.

Stacie blew out a breath, since there was an actual form of punishment involved now. "I officially hate all of you."

The problem, she knew, was the precarious relationship between the Bellas and Aubrey. The Bellas were warming up to their former captain and the idea and reality of Aubrey's relationship with Stacie, true, but Stacie knew that it would be easy to interpret the new rule as a reaction _against_ Aubrey. Stacie also knew that Aubrey still had some reservations about her own relationships with the other Barden Bellas, and depending on the day, she could very well take the rule as an official statement from the Bellas about her.

Stacie knew that everything was fraught, and ridiculous to be interpreted in such blanket, general terms, but that was where things stood, and the last thing she wanted was to give Aubrey an excuse to once again distance herself from the Bellas.

Luckily, the weeks immediately following Aubrey's vacation in California was busy and full of her catching up with things that needed to be attended to, which bought Stacie some time to figure out a plan of approach.

"Aubrey Posen's phone."

Stacie rolled her eyes at Aubrey's signature greeting when answering her phone, but asked, "Are you busy?"

"Yes, but I can take a call." Aubrey assured her. "What's up?"

"Where are you right now?"

"New York."

"Will you still be there this weekend?"

"I think so?" There was a pause, which Stacie could imagine was Aubrey checking her calendar, before the blonde confirmed, "as of right now, I'm still scheduled to stay in New York for this weekend."

"So I can come and visit?"

"This weekend?"

Stacie frowned at Aubrey's tone. "What's wrong with me coming to see you this weekend?"

"Other than I've got nothing planned, nothing." Aubrey told her, oblivious to Stacie's momentary annoyance and giving Stacie relief that Aubrey was just being Aubrey. "I hope you enjoy the great indoors."

Stacie rolled her eyes, and told her, "I think we both know I have no objections over the two of us staying indoors."

"A little more warning would have earned you a fancy restaurant and good seats to a Broadway show, you know."

"Well, then, you better come up with something awesome for when we're there for Finals, won't you?" Stacie retorted.

There was a pause, and then Aubrey let out a barely muted: "Shit."

"No kidding. Expectations have been set, babe."

Aubrey established, "Fancy restaurant and a Broadway show."

"I want the full New York City Aubrey Posen Dating Experience, Aubrey." Stacie teased.

Aubrey scoffed. "That doesn't exist."

"Then I guess you'll have to come up with it by the time I get there." Stacie pointed out.

"There's no precedent." Aubrey told her, which could have been read as a warning, but Stacie understood as a remark on Aubrey's dating past in New York.

To which Stacie responded in kind, telling her softly, "And I just want to hang out with you."

Which apparently was the right approach, as Aubrey's smile was evident in her voice. "Send me details of your flight."

"You'll pick me up from the airport?"

"If it's on Saturday. Friday night, and I'll have to send someone to pick you up."

Stacie furrowed her brow. "Really?"

"Yes."

"I can get a ride."

"Let me at least do this." Aubrey insisted.

Stacie shrugged. "Okay."

"Excellent." Aubrey sounded pleased, which was a good start. "How are rehearsals?"

"Ugh."

Aubrey laughed. "That good?"

"I'm starting to miss The Sign, if it's any indication."

"Hon, nobody misses The Sign."

"If I have to listen to another round of David Guetta mixes, I'm going to strangle someone." Stacie declared. "They're not all good, and I don't know what Beca's thinking."

Aubrey huffed. "I tried to warn all of you not to encourage those mixes too much."

"Well, we didn't know there was a point where it would be too much."

"That much?"

"It's enough."

Aubrey laughed. "Stace?"

"Yeah?"

"Is enough enough?"

Stacie abruptly ended the call when Aubrey started laughing.

There was a flaw to the plan, which Stacie didn't really realize until she was on the plane Friday afternoon and it occurred to her that she had no idea how to get to Aubrey's apartment. She didn't know what her roommate's full name was, or what neighborhood it was even in. With the dawn of the technology age, Stacie came to the stark realization that she did not have Aubrey's full address, either.

She wondered if she still had clearance with the company in Philadelphia, and if she could find a way to get Aubrey's address or even their parent company's New York address, because the trip was not having the best start so far.

Except there was a man in a chauffeur uniform holding a board with her name – well, for an A. Conrad, but he'd greeted her with her name – and after he introduced himself as "Aubrey sent me," the sleek black town car he brought her to wasn't too shabby, either. And there was a bouquet of flowers.

Once they were on their way, Stacie leaned forward. "Sorry, I didn't get your name."

He glanced at her briefly through the rearview mirror, clearly amused, and offered, "I'm Dan."

"Aubrey's friend Dan?"

"On good days."

Stacie furrowed her brow.

"I piss her off a lot." He admitted, keeping his eyes on the road.

Stacie regarded the back of his head for a beat, trying to discern the statement, but he seemed like a nice enough guy and if memory served her correctly, he was the one who kept Aubrey in line when she had been coming off a previous self-described 'bad relationship'. She hazarded, "On purpose?"

He shrugged. "Somebody has to?"

Stacie had to smile. "Do you know where we're going?"

"Aubrey said to bring you to her place, but if you want to pass by and see something else first, we can do that, too."

"Won't Aubrey get mad?"

"It won't be the first time." He acknowledged.

Stacie chuckled. "Maybe some other time."

They continued the rest of the trip in relative silence, as Stacie focused on her phone while Dan occasionally mentioned a landmark and made casual recommendations, until Dan turned the car into an underground parking driveway.

Stacie glanced around, having been too preoccupied with her text messages with the Bellas to have noticed the neighborhood. But she had read a little on New York real estate, and she was pretty sure any building with a parking slot was already a big deal.

Dan took her bag despite her protests, and they stood together in an elevator with doors on two opposite sides, making Stacie frown. Dan glanced at her, and shrugged. "It's pretentious."

"A little bit." Stacie agreed.

Dan laughed, and led her to a nondescript door marked only by a letter – H – and knocked.

Aubrey was still in her work clothes sans jacket, her hair in a low ponytail, and barefoot. She smiled brightly at Stacie. "You're here!" She noted the flowers, and grinned. "You got my flowers!"

"You know you only give flowers when you've screwed up, right?" Dan teased her, placing Stacie's bags inside the apartment.

Aubrey shot him a look of loathing. "Once again, you're very wrong, and that is why you're single and my girlfriend is this pretty."

"Hot." Stacie corrected.

"And hot." Aubrey amended. She turned to Stacie, who had moved closer to her. "Did Dan treat you well?"

"I was perfect." Dan protested.

Aubrey glanced over at him. "I wasn't asking you."

Stacie raised an eyebrow at the interplay, but allowed, "He was great."

"He was respectful?"

"He was fine." Stacie assured her.

Aubrey pouted, looking reluctant, before she walked over to a nearby chair where her jacket was draped on and walked back over, handing Dan a bill. She gave him a mocking smile. "And get yourself something nice."

Dan pocketed the bill, and returned the favor by giving her a mock salute. "Pleasure doing business with you."

"Get a job." Aubrey reminded.

"I have one." Dan replied. He smiled at Stacie. "It was nice meeting you, Stacie."

Stacie waved at him as he left, and then turned to Aubrey. She wrapped her arms around Aubrey's neck, and smiled at her. "Hi."

"Hi." Aubrey replied, grinning back.

Stacie indicated the space behind her. "So this is what you call home?"

"This is the apartment, yes."

Stacie took another quick glance around, but her gaze almost immediately returned to the thing that interested her most, and instead of suggesting a tour, she just smirked suggestively at Aubrey. "Want to measure the spring constant of your mattress?"

Aubrey didn't need to be asked twice. "Yes."


	42. Chapter 42

Stacie smiled when she woke up to the feeling of lips trailing a series of kisses along the back of her shoulder, sliding her hand along the arm around her waist and mused, "Don't start anything you're not going to finish." She warned.

"Oh," Aubrey whispered, and Stacie could feel her Aubrey's lips pull into a smile against her bare shoulder, "you're going to _finish_."

And let it not be said that Aubrey didn't follow through on her promises.

A little while later, Aubrey gave Stacie a quick kiss, ignoring the way Stacie was still catching her breath and barely kissed her back. "I'm gonna go make breakfast."

Stacie was a beat too slow in grabbing Aubrey to try and keep her in bed, and could only watch as Aubrey left the bedroom to go and prepare their meal, having missed dinner the night before. She rolled onto her back, and stared at the ceiling of Aubrey's room as she recovered from her wake up call.

Stacie ran her hand through her hair, and once she could string together coherent thought, she took notice of her surroundings.

Oddly – but unsurprisingly – the room was sparsely decorated, as even the windows only had blinds, not curtains, and one wall had a line of built-in closets and a bookshelf; there was a small dresser near the closets, and there was a singular table beside the bed. Much like Aubrey's apartment back when she had been in Philadelphia, there were no pictures on display, and save for the items on top of the dresser, very little indication regarding the person who occupied the room.

The bookshelf had a few books in it, sure, and while Stacie couldn't identify any of them from this distance, she was pretty sure Aubrey read more than the pitiful state of that shelf implied. There was no stereo, or any kind of rack for Stacie to investigate and find any kind of incriminating evidence of Aubrey's cheesy preferences. There was a TV mounted in the far corner of the room, but Stacie had no idea where the remote control was. It was, Stacie realized with a start, not much different from all the other hotel rooms she had met Aubrey in, complete with Aubrey's luggage set just sitting in a corner waiting to be packed and used.

At least the bed was really comfortable. And smelled vaguely like Aubrey, so she knew Aubrey really lived here, despite all appearances to the contrary.

Stacie glanced at the bedside table, where Aubrey's phone, glasses, and an alarm clock – Stacie rolled her eyes, _of course_ Aubrey had an actual alarm clock, even though Stacie knew she mostly used her phone – were all easily visible and within reach, as well as a bedside lamp. It took Stacie a minute to focus, but her gaze fell on something behind the lamp, and it was enough to pique her interest. Stacie squinted, getting up slightly to get a better view, and wished she didn't have to hunt down her eyeglasses so she wouldn't have to move closer to get a better look.

But even though her brain was a little slow on the uptake, she suspected she knew what it was, even before a closer look confirmed what she thought.

A metronome.

Stacie leaned over her pillow as she moved closer to that side of the bed, and reached out to pull the item closer to her.

She'd read from one of her mom's medical journals the soothing effects of metronomes on people with panic and anxiety issues, and she had been out one day trying to come up with a suitable graduation gift for Aubrey – not including the engraved Barden Bellas pitch pipe the Bellas had all gotten for their graduating captain – and had come across a vintage store with a variety of metronomes on display.

It hadn't been the most obvious of gifts to give Aubrey – honestly the Bellas had just decided that Aubrey deserved something to commemorate her time as their captain, and the pitch pipe she'd had had been thrown out after it fell in Aubrey's puddle of vomit; and they figured something Bella-related was the best way to go in terms of what to give Aubrey as a gift – but Stacie had thought about Aubrey's anxiety issues, with the likelihood that she would pursue a job or career in something equally anxiety-inducing, and she figured, considering Aubrey's taste for things both elegant and classic, a well-made metronome with a dark wood finish wouldn't be out of place.

In a room so impersonal to the point of being mistaken for a hotel room, Aubrey kept a metronome out in full display, just slightly out of reach from her bed; the singular point of information on the resident.

Stacie didn't know what that meant, but she had a feeling that the metronome was Aubrey's only marker of when she was in her apartment in New York and not some other random room in hotels across the country. It also raised the question of whether the impersonal space was by choice or coincidence; and if Aubrey chose to leave it that way, the reasons why.

Because honestly, the living and dining area weren't any better, and the whole apartment might as well be advertised and featured on a real estate magazine for its lack of personal touches. "So this place is…"

"Empty?" Aubrey guessed.

Stacie made a face at her. "Pristine."

Aubrey quirked an eyebrow at her, but this time didn't answer, or stop with her jam application onto a slice of toast.

Stacie frowned at the lack of response. "I mean, it's clean, Aubrey." She smiled wryly. "Like, _really_ clean. Like you've-killed-someone-in-here-and-cleaned-up-after clean."

Aubrey shrugged. "Bleach can do that."

Stacie frowned at her.

Aubrey smiled weakly. "I don't know what to tell you, Stacie. I'm not one for interior decorating."

"There's interior design and there's…" Stacie gestured around them. "This is dystopian sci-fi clean, babe."

Aubrey took a sip of her coffee and admitted, "Decorating isn't on my list of things to do."

"You don't even have a picture of me by your bed," Stacie pointed out, stabbing her plate of scrambled eggs with her fork. "Or, you know, on your dresser. Or above your bed. As the person whose face isn't plastered all over your personal space, I won't lie, this borders on offensive."

Aubrey pursed her lips in thought.

Stacie studied her for a moment, narrowing her eyes as something occurred to her. "You don't have pictures of me, do you?"

"Of course I do." Aubrey said defensively.

"No," Stacie shook her head, her epiphany needing to be addressed directly, "your social media feed is locked, but I bet if we checked you won't have pictures of me."

"I'm sure I do." Aubrey said, a little unconvincingly.

Stacie raised an eyebrow.

"I must have," Aubrey said thoughtfully, grabbing her phone and unlocking it. She glanced at Stacie, who looked back at her with an expectant expression, and she turned back to her phone silently praying that she had actually followed through on any of her plans to post something – anything – related to her relationship with Stacie.

The problem with having been advised about locking up her social media accounts was that in the period of time it took for her to stop automatically posting things, she had also become acclimated to not posting things _at all_. After all, the learning curve regarding things she could and could not post had been steep, so to be safe, she had just avoided posting anything, and now it was no longer second nature for her to post things and upload pictures.

So there was no shortage to the sigh of relief she exhaled when each one of the accounts she checked had at least one picture of her and Stacie, with the vague recollection of her posting those pictures after she had seen Stacie post something similar, and responding in kind.

Of course, when compared to Stacie's own social media feed, Aubrey had a lot to make up for.

Note to self: post more often.

Stacie apparently felt the same, as she scrolled through Aubrey's phone after being handed it for inspection, breakfast all but forgotten, as she declared, "This is like how people get convinced that the guy they're dating just isn't into you."

"I know." Aubrey admitted, when she was given her phone back. "The confidentiality level of what I do kind of gets in the way of the amount of selfies and scenic pictures of landmarks I can share with people."

"Because people can guess where you work?"

"Of company clientele or subsidiaries based on my location, yeah. And given what I do, that's… not a good thing." Aubrey nodded. "Keeping the job's already hard enough as it is, it's hard to risk it for something so stupid."

"Selfies?"

Aubrey shook her head, smiling weakly. "And even without the obvious evidence, I'd have to load things on my computer, remove the data manually, _and then_ upload the pictures, which was just too tedious to deal with."

Stacie frowned. "That sucks."

"It really does," Aubrey agreed.

"And the apartment?"

"I'm barely ever here," Aubrey acknowledged.

"It just feels so…" Stacie once again tried to find a kinder way to say what she thought.

Aubrey glanced at her. "Temporary?"

"A little, yeah," Stacie nodded. "Like you're transient, or something."

Aubrey glanced around, as if to confirm what Stacie might be seeing. She turned back to Stacie. "I don't know, maybe a part of me feels like I am."

Stacie frowned. "But you're not, right?"

Aubrey smiled weakly, and nodded. "I'm not."

"So maybe you can start decorating?" Stacie suggested.

Aubrey rolled her eyes, but nodded. "I'll start decorating."

Stacie grinned, and couldn't help but tease Aubrey a little, "With pictures of me?"

"I'll build a shrine, if that'll make you happy."

Stacie laughed. "Are you kidding? I expect a full wall of just me."

Aubrey smiled. "Serial killer wall, or crazy conspiracy theory wall?"

Stacie stuck her tongue out at Aubrey. "Teenage girl with a hardcore crush."

Aubrey laughed, before her grin softened into a faint smile. "You know I love you, right?"

"I know." Stacie responded, hesitating briefly before leaving her seat and moving towards Aubrey, wrapping her arms around her shoulders and perching herself on the other girl's lap. "I just don't like the idea that you come home to this emptiness."

"It's not empty." Aubrey replied, wrapping her arms around Stacie's waist.

"But it's not yours." Stacie reminded.

"It isn't," Aubrey agreed. She shrugged again, this time more casually. "And honestly I'm just waiting for Wes to man up and propose to his girlfriend, so I might have to move out one day."

"Yeah? How's that-" Stacie stopped suddenly, and the playfulness of their exchange disappeared in her countenance. "Wait, 'girlfriend'?"

Aubrey nodded.

"I thought your roommate's gay."

"He's not gay." Aubrey declared, confused. "Why would you think that?"

"Because Dan willingly went with you to watch collegiate a cappella and someone else checks my Instagram regularly?" Stacie reminded.

"They care about me," Aubrey noted. "That doesn't make them gay."

"Well, who lets their bisexual girlfriend stay with a straight male roommate?" Stacie hissed. She looked around, as if trying to confirm the identity of said straight male roommate.

Aubrey rolled her eyes. "You're fine, he's not interested in me."

"Um," Stacie turned to level an incredulous look at her, "people in Barden still found you hot even after the ICCAs your junior year; you're underestimating your hotness." She paused, and then asked in a whisper, "Is your roommate blind, because that explains—"

"He and Marti have been dating since high school. They grew up together. He's only ever liked one girl his entire life, and everyone else just don't count for him." Aubrey explained.

Stacie groaned. "You're making me feel bad about hating him now."

"Don't hate him." Aubrey advised her, chuckling.

Stacie pouted.

"Free rent." Aubrey reminded.

"Fine, but if he tries anything, I reserve the right to say I told you so." Stacie warned. "Repeatedly. Like, with a song and dance number."

Aubrey grinned. "You're gonna dance?"

Stacie nodded, until she noticed the glazed look on Aubrey's face. She rolled her eyes, and shook her head. "You're ridiculous."

"Will you be in costume?"

"Seriously?"

"Can I get this song and dance if he proposes to Marti?"

Stacie rolled her eyes. "You just want me to dance in costume."

"Or without it."

"You're insane."

"With sequins and tails."

Stacie frowned but drew out slowly, "Sequins would eat up our entire costume allowance."

"Tails, then."

"Like animal costumes?" Stacie asked, confused. She wasn't one to judge, and while she was undeniably kinky, she wasn't _that_ kinky.

"Coat and tails." Aubrey corrected, before she paused and noted, "That's not really a thing, right, because I know you said you have kinks, but is—"

Stacie tugged on a lock of Aubrey's hair. "No."

Aubrey laughed.

Stacie regarded Aubrey, and how buoyant and vibrant she seemed, completely belying how bleak the impersonal apartment space made her seem, and when they fell back into a comfortable silence, she blurted out, "I saw the metronome."

Aubrey arched an eyebrow, not sure where Stacie wanted to take the conversation topic.

"You keep it at your bedside?"

Aubrey nodded slowly.

"Because of your stress levels?"

Aubrey gave her a wary look, but conceded, "Partly."

Stacie's lips quirked into a teasing smile, "Because you miss me?"

Aubrey huffed, but again admitted, "Partly."

This innate stubbornness, this refusal to give in: this was equal parts what Stacie loved most and found most exasperating about Aubrey Posen. She did not yet know entirely the reasons for Aubrey's bullish personality, or why getting her to confess to certain things could be likened to pulling teeth, but Stacie knew there was a reason why Aubrey's friendship with Chloe meant to her as much as it did, why it was the most important relationship Aubrey had for a long time, and why Aubrey loved Chloe as much as she did.

Because Chloe did not let Aubrey off the hook. Stacie wasn't privy to a lot of their interactions when they had all been Bellas together, but Chloe could only take so much of being bulldozed over before she snapped and called people out on their bad behavior. But Chloe also worked in more subtle ways, waiting people out and being the one person in the world who didn't judge them, until people trusted her so fully that they could tell her everything.

Because here's what Stacie _did_ know about Aubrey: the girl was so used to disappointing people, whether she meant to or not, whether the disappointment was warranted or not, that her natural inclination was to expect to be dismissed. And maybe Stacie had already stepped up back in California, refusing to let Aubrey off the hook from their relationship, but she knew there was a part of Aubrey that still expected the other shoe to drop.

Stacie bit her lip briefly, and admitted, "I kept the bill and receipt from the hotel."

Aubrey's brow knit, "What?"

"From that night." Stacie continued. She looked down, suddenly fixated by the collar of Aubrey's sleep shirt, and the way it frayed a little near the seam. "I took it, and at first it was just… It made it real. What did you say, that it was proof that the night really happened? That was mine. And then you stopped calling, and you kind of disappeared, and it felt like, that was proof. That for one night, I'd meant something to you. I wasn't just..." She took a deep breath, and hated how shaky it felt, the way it sounded, even to her. She could feel the way Aubrey's arms tightened around her, but still she kept her gaze on the fraying edges of Aubrey's shirt. "You weren't just a crush I needed to get out of my system. But I didn't know what that meant."

Aubrey had suspected as much, having felt much of the same, and wanted to comfort and reassure Stacie, but she didn't know how. Words seemed empty, actions felt drastic, and in the wake of such a heartfelt confession, it would be easy to make a mistake.

Since Stacie's gaze remained down, Aubrey returned the gesture, keeping her own gaze lowered, while reaching up to idly tangle her fingers through some of Stacie's dark hair that had escaped the bun she kept it in. "Remember that day in your room?"

Stacie frowned, wondering at the seeming non-sequitur, but nodded.

"I told you that your room is just part of the story of who you are." Aubrey continued. Their gazes met briefly, but then Stacie cast her gaze back down. "I said that I wanted to know all the stories about the things in it."

Stacie nodded again, slowly figuring out where Aubrey was going with this.

"For over a year, I haven't been the best friend. Or a good daughter. Or even a decent girlfriend. I've been a good employee, but that hasn't always been a very good version of me." Aubrey looked up, and this time, when her eyes met Stacie's, neither of them looked away. "For that entire time, I've had one story."

Stacie nodded mutely.

"And it involves that metronome."


	43. Chapter 43

After their emotional morning over breakfast, Aubrey and Stacie fell into a quiet and generally unremarkable Saturday, careful not to completely derail what was Stacie's first trip visiting Aubrey in her home city. At the moment, they had retreated to their figurative separate corners, with Stacie finishing her assigned reading while Aubrey read a report on her tablet.

Or, apparently, was trying to, as Stacie espied Aubrey glance in her direction for the nth time in so many minutes, only to look away when Stacie noticed. Stacie waited, and when Aubrey looked over again, only to quickly look away when she saw Stacie looking back, Stacie asked, "Babe, you're creeping me out."

Aubrey's cheeks flamed as she returned her gaze towards Stacie. "Sorry."

"Don't be sorry, what's up?"

Aubrey admitted, "This isn't how I imagined your first visit would be like."

Stacie arched an eyebrow, and smiled slyly. "I kinda imagined there'd be less clothes."

"Funny."

"I'm serious."

Aubrey frowned. "I feel like I'm depriving you of the full New York City experience."

Stacie tilted her head slightly to the side. "Maybe a little, but it raises questions on what your weekends are usually like."

Aubrey smiled wryly. "Mostly like this. But with gym time, laundry and groceries."

"What an exciting Saturday." Stacie said drolly.

Aubrey conceded to the sarcasm. "My job demands me to be on standby all the time. I'll take the quiet weekend."

Stacie shrugged, unapologetically. "I guess I thought this was the city that never sleeps."

"And I don't from Monday to Friday." Aubrey replied flatly, making Stacie make a face at her.

"Fine, but from now on if you're going to keep me holed up in an apartment for the weekend, I will require less clothes." Stacie informed her.

Aubrey laughed. "I'll keep that in mind."

Stacie rolled her eyes. "That was supposed to have been an invitation for us to get on that."

Aubrey's rejoinder was cut off by her tablet informing her of an incoming email. She read the message, paused, and then looked up at Stacie.

"Do you like art exhibits?"

Stacie wasn't sure, not having gone to enough art shows to really have an opinion; which would be the simple explanation for how they ended up attending an art show opening that evening, featuring one of Dan's friends who apparently had Aubrey as part of her email list, and included Aubrey among her invitees.

"So do you attend these things often?" Stacie asked curiously as she and Aubrey walked towards the gallery, the gallery sign still a long way ahead of them.

"Not often. Dan's friends are mostly artists – some musicians or actors – and he'll drag me to something if he thinks I'll like it. Or if he wants me to hang out with him."

Stacie furrowed her brow. "What's the deal with you and Dan?"

"What do you mean?" Aubrey asked, confused on the nature of the question.

"Is he like your best friend, does he have a crush on you?" Stacie pressed. "Are you close on an emotional level that others can't compare to?"

"I used to work with him."

Okay, Stacie did _not_ see that coming. She immediately stopped walking, and by tightening the hold she had on Aubrey's hand, she brought Aubrey to a full stop, as well. "Excuse me?"

"Dan used to be in Oversight." Aubrey elaborated, as if Stacie didn't know which department Aubrey reported to.

"He's a chauffeur."

"He drives for a service, yeah." Aubrey nodded. Going off on a tangent, she mused, "You'd think that would go out of style with Uber, but I guess there are still people who believe in town cars and professional services."

"I don't—" Stacie shook her head, ignoring the rest of Aubrey's statement. "How did he end up driving a car for a living?"

"Stress." Aubrey shrugged. "The atherosclerosis might have been a contributing factor."

Stacie balked. "He had a heart attack?"

"His routine medical check indicated he was a viable candidate for one." Aubrey shared, clearly unbothered at sharing a friend's medical history the same way she had been unnaturally casual about the results of her medical tests. "And he shrugged it off for a bit, but it bothered him that they were going to up his insurance premium for traveling because of it."

Stacie stared at her.

"Which led to a whole crisis of faith, which led to some personal reflection." Aubrey continued. "Long story short, he quit to drive a car."

"Wow."

"It's not that impressive."

"He quit to save himself."

"Sure. I mean, I guess you can look it that way." Aubrey allowed.

Stacie eyed her skeptically. "Would _you_ quit to drive a car?"

Aubrey frowned.

Stacie looked on expectantly.

"I don't know." Aubrey finally admitted. "I want to say I would, especially if it was a health thing, but," she exhaled heavily, and glanced away from Stacie, as if aware of the judgment her next statement would earn. "Posens don't quit. And it bears a lot of the same markers as failure."

Because nothing scared Aubrey more than the prospect of total failure. And Stacie realized that for all intents and purposes, for all that Aubrey had disclosed earlier about the state of her apartment, Stacie suddenly had some insight that despite all appearances to the contrary, that even though she had job security and what Stacie could only guess was a decent savings account, Aubrey was still the girl who had so easily shared her father's words of wisdom that the first course of action in being unable to succeed was to pack one's bags.

Stacie regarded Aubrey for a moment, waiting her out, waiting for Aubrey to turn back and face her. When she finally did, Stacie told her, "For the record? I subscribe to the try-and-try-until-you-succeed school of thought."

Aubrey smiled wryly, but she also nodded, acknowledging what Stacie was implicitly telling her. Maybe she wasn't the same girl who went after the ICCAs with blinders on, but she knew she sometimes still focused on the small details instead of the bigger picture. And maybe shortcomings weren't the colossal disasters her younger self might have once viewed them, but Aubrey had not yet mastered being someone who could shrug it off and keep moving forward. "I'll try."

"That's all I ask." Stacie said, and smiled as they continued walking towards the gallery.

As they passed by a small café with its outdoor seating fully occupied, drawing Stacie's attention to its clientele, and she realized she had no idea about Aubrey's relationship with the artist, or who the other guests would likely be. She glanced over at Aubrey.

"We're not going to run into any of your exes, right?"

"God, I hope not." Aubrey intoned.

"And who's the artist?"

"Lena. Dan's friend. The people there will mostly be Dan's friends, but this gallery's like one of the more casual, kind of cool places to go to just to hang out and be seen, so I can't be sure."

"So we might." Stacie clarified.

Aubrey glanced at her in confusion.

"Running into your exes. We _might_."

"I guess." Aubrey conceded. "Will that be a problem?"

"That you hang out in the same social circles with your hookups?"

Aubrey winced. "People I've _dated_. I'm friends with the people I actually used to _date_."

Stacie frowned at her, and at Aubrey's obvious distaste for the idea of Stacie just lumping together every one she's ever been with.

"And if I had a choice you'll never have to be in the same room with some of the people I've just hooked up with." Aubrey continued.

"We've literally spent a whole day with Jill."

"She's a friend I slept with. That's different."

Stacie blinked at Aubrey, at the various levels of intimacy her girlfriend ascribed to her past dalliances, and ultimately decided she didn't want to know. So instead she went with levity. "You say that, but don't you want them to meet the girl behind the metronome?"

Aubrey glanced at her. "They don't know about the metronome."

Stacie furrowed her brow. "Kind of hard to miss if they've been on your bed, babe."

"That there's a story." Aubrey clarified. "People don't know that."

"They should." At Aubrey's doubtful expression, Stacie winked at her. "You got the girl."

Aubrey pursed her lips, briefly weighed out her options, before she noted with just a hint of amusement in her voice, "Is this a bad time to tell you that the whole thing with the metronome wasn't just about the hot girl I banged on graduation?"

Stacie immediately frowned. "But it's more romantic that way."

True, but Aubrey explained, "It's more of the whole context and stuff."

"Because you don't want to be so strongly identified with the pining?"

"Please. You find the pining romantic."

"You were pining _for me_ , that's like a given." Stacie pointed out. She hooked her arm with Aubrey's to bring them closer together. Dropping her teasing tone but keeping it light, she asked, "So if it's not just about this really, really hot girl, what was the story with the metronome?"

Aubrey smiled. "That for one small moment in time I was exactly where I wanted to be."

"Banging this really hot girl?" Stacie asked, grinning.

Aubrey laughed. "Maybe a little."

"Only a little?" Stacie couldn't help but tease.

Aubrey shrugged. "I finished college. The Bellas won the ICCAs." She smiled as she turned to look at Stacie. "I had a job waiting."

Stacie's pace slowed to a stop, and she turned to meet Aubrey's gaze.

"How did this really hot girl put it?" Aubrey mused, pretending to give the question serious thought. "Newly graduated, with a whole life ahead of me, goals and ambitions within reach."

Stacie smiled back, having words she'd once spoken to Aubrey being echoed back to her. "It was your moment."

Aubrey's smile softened, and she nodded. The corner of her lips quirked upward. "And I had the girl."

Stacie chuckled. "Oh yeah. You _had_ the girl."

Aubrey grinned. "Repeatedly."

"You're welcome for that, by the way."

"And I think I've already thanked you."

Stacie stuck her tongue out at her.

Aubrey snickered. "Repeatedly."

Stacie shook her head in amusement, because after a year of looking back on that night with a strong feeling of melancholy, now that she and Aubrey had remedied their memory of how it had ended, it was nice to finally be able to think on it with fondness and not a small amount of amusement. She turned back to Aubrey and regarded her thoughtfully, because while they were being light-hearted about the subject, she felt the need to clarify: "So the metronome's been a good thing?"

Aubrey nodded. "A very good thing."

Stacie considered pursuing the train of thought, but she felt they had trod the subject matter of the time between Aubrey's departure from Barden to their first meeting in an elevator in Philadelphia before, and she didn't particularly feel inclined in bringing it up at that moment. So instead she asked, a knowing smile starting to pull on the corner of her lips, "So you like owe the girl who gave it to you a thing or two, right?"

Aubrey laughed, and pulled on Stacie's arm to lead her back towards the gallery. "Don't push it."

"I'm just saying—"

"And I'm going to say maybe it really _is_ about that time I banged this hot girl."

"The pining!" Stacie protested.

"Or I use it to avoid panic attacks."

Stacie gasped in affront. "You take that back!"

Aubrey grinned at her. "I told you not to push it."

Stacie rolled her eyes, grumbling, "You say all that, but you live out of a suitcase and the only thing you have on your bedside that's personal is something I gave you."

"Well, I _did_ say part of the story was about the girl." Aubrey reminded.

Stacie glanced at her, and wondered if the day would ever come when her heart would stop doing silly things in her chest when she heard Aubrey refer to her from the time they hadn't been a couple not as " _a_ girl" but as " _the_ girl".

She doubted it.

When they reached the front of the gallery, Stacie noticed the tight hold Aubrey had on their entwined hands. She looked down to confirm, and then looked up at Aubrey. "Hey."

Aubrey glanced at her.

"You already know they're happy that you're happy." Stacie reminded. "And I'm the girl who makes you happy. We're already ahead of the game."

At the reminder, Aubrey slightly relaxed, letting out a long exhale. "Okay."

Stacie nodded. "Better?"

Aubrey nodded back. "If you hate it, just give me the word and we'll go."

Stacie arched an eyebrow. "We're dealing in safe words now?"

Aubrey rolled her eyes in faux exasperation. "Yes, we're delving into bondage fun. What's your safe word?"

Stacie grinned at her. "Tell me more about this bondage fun."

"Or we can examine your reaction to orgasm denial, what's the safe word?"

Stacie's jaw dropped – in offense and surprise (and turn-on) that was discovering Aubrey was even familiar with the term _orgasm denial_ – before she decided, "Scat singing."

Aubrey didn't look so sure – people were bound to ask the member of a 2-time ICCA champion (and en route to a third) about a cappella – but she shrugged. "Okay."

"Okay." Stacie echoed, before she paused and asked, "Do they know how we started?"

"Yes."

Stacie arched an eyebrow. "Really?"

Aubrey's cheeks tinged red. "Yes."

"You're blushing! You're so cute." Stacie laughed. "But why do they know about the start of our relationship when we can't even begin to explain it to the girls?"

"Because my friends know how screwed up my dating history's been and us hooking up at odd cities in the southeastern region is actually the best relationship I've been in these past two years?" Aubrey surmised.

Stacie preened. "I _am_ pretty awesome, aren't I?"

Aubrey rolled her eyes, even as she allowed, "You are."

Just as Aubrey turned to open the door, the door opened and Dan stepped out to greet them, leveling a frown upon Aubrey. "Which part of 4PM didn't you understand?"

"The part where they're opening a show at 4PM," Aubrey retorted. "Who even opens something on a Saturday afternoon?"

Dan frowned at her. "Because Javi's band is performing tonight. I sent you an invite."

"Why did they set it up on the same night?" Aubrey complained.

"Because it's like a tour of what the lower-income art world of New York has to offer. Check your email." Dan reminded, ignoring the obvious fact that half of Aubrey's life – a life which his own used to be very similar to – was checking an email inbox. And then, having clearly decided he was done talking to Aubrey, smiled at Stacie. "Hi, Stacie. Great to see you again."

Stacie smiled at him, and now having been told of his past life as Aubrey's coworker, could now detect traces of what he must have been like once, and why Aubrey trusted him so much. "Hi, Dan."

"You don't mind taking in an art show and a concert on the same night, right?" Dan asked. He indicated Aubrey with a nod of his head, "unlike grandma over here."

Aubrey rolled her eyes. "You're older than me."

He shrugged. "And yet."

Aubrey shook her head, and brushed past him, pulling Stacie along with her. "Ignore him and maybe he'll go away."

Stacie shrugged at Dan as she passed him, before falling back into step with Aubrey once they entered the gallery. "Are we going to the concert?"

Aubrey frowned. "It's not so much a 'concert' as it is a bunch of guys who can play instruments being allowed to perform on a stage."

"Difference?"

"I wouldn't pay money to see Javi's band perform."

Stacie pursed her lips. "What if it's free?"

Aubrey turned, and her gaze met Stacie's, seeing the barely-hidden excitement shining in them, and sighed in resignation. "You want to go."

"Yeah, I want to go." Stacie replied, the 'duh' obvious in her tone.

Aubrey's lips pursed, and sighed again. "Fine. But if you get carded, we're leaving."

Stacie smiled at her in triumph. "I won't get carded."

Aubrey shrugged. "We'll see."

Stacie laughed, and kissed Aubrey's cheek. "Loosen up, babe. Tonight can be awesome."


	44. Chapter 44

The low groaning from the body beside her on the bed was Aubrey's warning that Stacie was finally waking up. She glanced over, shook her head, and turned back to the report she was reading.

After several long, groan-filled minutes, Stacie finally grumbled, "Why am I alive."

"Good morning." Aubrey greeted pleasantly.

Stacie turned her head to face Aubrey, drearily looking up at the seated blonde. "Is this heaven?"

Aubrey chuckled. "Would you feel like you do if it were?"

There was a pause, and then instead of answering, Stacie groaned. "Please don't make me think."

"I warned you."

"You didn't use the safe word."

"I said 'scat singing' like four times." Aubrey corrected. "You just kept saying you know all the ways to make me make music with your mouth."

Despite her raging hangover, Stacie chuckled. "I'm awesome."

"You have mascara smearing my sheets." Aubrey replied blandly.

Stacie glared at her. "How are you human right now?"

"I didn't drink the neon stuff."

Right. Stacie remembered now. She also knew where to pin the blame. "I hate your friends."

"Too bad, they really liked you." Aubrey knew she should be more sympathetic to the plight of the hungover, but she had warned Stacie – repeatedly – and her girlfriend had chosen to ignore those warnings. "And for someone who hates them, you sure enjoyed drinking with them."

Stacie moaned, grabbing the edge of the blanket and throwing it over her head to cover herself. "But I didn't get carded."

No, she really did not. And Aubrey was one day going to be able to look at many of her friends and not want to hit them on the back of the head. Repeatedly. And maybe eventually forgive them for plying Stacie with alcoholic drinks. "Stace?"

She was greeted by an annoyed growl.

"Full disclosure, but remember Kel?"

"The bartender?"

"Yes." Aubrey feigned nonchalance as she inquired, "Did anyone tell you Kel's also a forensic pathologist?"

There was a pause, and then a slow, grudging, "No."

"Yeah." Aubrey grinned at the blanketed lump that was supposed to be Stacie. "So as you can see, she has a very clear sense of just how much alcohol the human body can stand."

Stacie groaned again. "I hate your friends."

Aubrey laughed, and gently pat the blanket-covered head of her girlfriend. "Do you want anything for that hangover?"

"I don't think sex can help with the dying."

"Aspirin?"

"Please."

"Bedside."

Stacie swat Aubrey's hand away from her head. "You couldn't tell me that right away?"

"But this is more fun." Aubrey replied. She glanced at Stacie, who had extricated herself from her blanket cocoon to reach for the pills and the glass of water. "And when you feel human, we can go out for lunch."

Having swallowed the pills, Stacie gave her a wary look before she lay back down and once more burrowed into the blankets. "I'm never leaving this bed."

And while Aubrey knew Stacie was talking about her inability to do anything else but simply remain conscious until the painkillers kicked in and the hangover started to abate, the words still filled her with warmth and longing. Maybe some hope. She shook her head. "Food will help."

"Dying will help." Stacie muttered.

"Your dying would be detrimental to my dating life, though."

Stacie frowned up at her. "Who said you can date when I die?"

"I'll miss you dearly." Aubrey assured her.

"I'm going to haunt you and ruin all your future relationships." Stacie declared flatly.

"You know that if you die we can't have sex anymore." Aubrey reminded. "Regardless of the cancer-induced hallucination Grey's Anatomy asserted."

"Ugh." Stacie grunted. "I guess I'll have to live."

"Your consideration is noted."

Glad to have that settled, Stacie shut her eyes, and instructed, "Now stop talking until the drugs start to work."

Aubrey acquiesced, flipping the page on her reading material.

After a few minutes, Stacie grumbled, "Hugs help cure hangovers."

"I don't think that's a real thing."

"It is." Without opening her eyes, Stacie lazily – unsuccessfully – tried to reach for the report Aubrey was reading to toss it aside. "It's like Science."

She was still doubtful, but Aubrey wasn't about to refuse an invitation to hug Stacie, so she set aside the folder she was reading to do as Stacie requested and lay down beside Stacie, who had turned to face away from Aubrey. She grinned at this new development.

"Yes, you get to be the big spoon, shut up." Stacie told her.

"I didn't say anything."

A few hours later, once Stacie felt slightly more human and less like reanimated roadkill, she was seated opposite Aubrey in a restaurant whose dark interiors and natural lighting system allowed its diners – most of whom Stacie felt a kinship with, if their dark glasses and gaunt expressions were anything to go by – to be awake in the middle of the day and consuming food that wasn't laden with grease.

Aubrey – blond, bright-eyed, finding-this-too-hilarious-to-be-cute Aubrey – was probably the only person in the room who wasn't part of the staff who wasn't nursing some kind of hangover.

Noticing that the waitstaff addressed Aubrey by name, Stacie frowned at her girlfriend. "Come here often?"

"I used to go out with their sous chef," Aubrey replied. Before Stacie could turn to look at the kitchen doors, Aubrey added, "Before he left for LA." And: "They like me more than him, so I got this place in the breakup."

Stacie frowned at her. "That's not funny."

"It's a little funny," Aubrey admitted. "It's like one of very few places that doesn't take Sunday brunch as a sunny occasion. I don't really drop by that often, but if I want to meet anyone on a Sunday, this is the only place I know they won't object to."

Stacie bit into her French toast, and she allowed herself a moment to appreciate the fact that there was a place in the world that served French toast alongside a salad and (offensively expensive) grilled cheese sandwiches. Whatever reservation she may have in dining at a restaurant where Aubrey was known as someone their former sous chef used to date, all was forgiven in their haphazard approach to a brunch menu.

Stacie sighed. She's been hungover before, but the one she was currently suffering was off the charts. "Are your Saturdays usually like that or was last night special?"

Aubrey smiled wryly. "Except for the part where you took the phrase 'unlimited drinks' as a challenge, that was a typical night out with Dan's friends."

Stacie lifted an eyebrow at the qualifier.

"Dan's my friend. I don't really hang out with most of them without him." Aubrey explained. She shrugged, smiling weakly. "Honestly, usually it's just us going out for dinner."

"No karaoke?"

Aubrey laughed softly. "If we're drunk enough."

Stacie smiled. "Touché."

"I don't know how I'm traveling back to Atlanta like this," Stacie bemoaned, a little while later.

Aubrey's thinly-veiled amusement immediately faded into concern, being reminded of the fact that Stacie was only visiting and would be on a plane in a few hours. "They serve a hangover cure here that actually works, but your sense of taste will be shot for at least a day, a day and a half. Do you want to try it?"

Stacie frowned at her. "Why didn't you mention this sooner?"

"Because your sense of taste will be screwed up for a whole day?" Aubrey reminded, already calling over their waitress. "And you ignored my warnings about the drinks last night, I'm warning you about the cure now."

"I have classes tomorrow."

Aubrey pursed her lips, but shrugged. "It's your funeral."

"I'm already dying." Stacie reminded.

And in hindsight, maybe she really should have taken Aubrey's warning to heart.

Aubrey watched placidly when Stacie made a face when she caught the smell of the drink she was given, and when Stacie shot her a glance to question the wisdom of drinking it, Aubrey only motioned to the grey-colored mixture. "Just make sure you drink that s-"

"Yeah, I know." Stacie cut her off, before she picked up the glass and sighed. Might as well get this over with. "Bottoms up."

It was disgusting. It was like pouring cement into her mouth – both in taste and texture – and her girlfriend, the girl who was supposed to provide unconditional love and support – only watched with an unreadable expression.

Stacie's made a lot of questionable decisions – and she's had a few questionable things in her mouth in the past – but Aubrey's hangover cure had the distinction of burning itself into her sense memory for taste and smell.

If she ever tasted or smelled anything ever again.

When she finished the glass, she turned back to Aubrey, who had their waitress standing by, and they both stared at her with expressions that were a strange mix of awe and horror.

"You were supposed to sip that," the waitress managed to say through her shock.

Sure, but Stacie seriously doubted anyone would have managed to drink the concoction in small increments.

"Are you okay?" Aubrey asked in concern.

"I'm—" Stacie started to say, because her head actually _was_ already starting to clear up, but her statement was cut off when the aftertaste burned through her tongue, and she turned away, resisting the very strong urge to gag.

"There it is." The waitress sighed. "Girl, do you need a barf bag? Girls' room?"

Stacie nodded, and blindly took the hand she was offered to be led away from the table.

Nothing comes up (thank God). But her mouth makes her feel like she's a superhuman version of Typhoid Mary, that just _breathing_ on people would cause them to die, and she momentarily allows herself to freely hate Aubrey's friends for a moment because she knows she can't kiss Aubrey with the taste of that hangover "cure" on her mouth, not to mention doing anything beyond kissing.

Which is unfortunate, because on her way back to the table, she stops short when she sees that some douchebag has occupied her seat across from Aubrey.

And he is. A douchebag. Or he looks the part. Hundred-dollar haircut, big-label clothing logos, a watch that even from a distance looked like it was so expensive it should tell time in at least two other countries…

Actually – and Stacie knew she had to be objective here, because she knew Aubrey had a weird taste in friends now – there was nothing necessarily sleazy about him, nothing that should have set off red flags in Stacie's brain, but that was before she glanced at Aubrey, and the stony mask on her face told Stacie just about everything she needed to know.

Including the part where Aubrey would probably not welcome Stacie interrupting, if the way her glare was drawing a bead on the guy's face was any indication.

Stacie inched closer, hoping to eavesdrop on the conversation.

"…I didn't even know you were doing the scene again."

Aubrey let his non-question hang in the air for a minute before she told him evenly, "I was out with friends. We were hanging out."

"Is that what you're calling it?"

This time the pause was less heavy. "What do you mean?"

"Come on, Aubrey, you're gonna pretend you didn't have that fine piece of a- arm candy hanging off you last night?" Wisely, Stacie thought, he had picked up on the glare Aubrey shot at him for what he was about to say.

"That's none of your business." Aubrey replied.

"I'm your friend, and you know as well as I do that girl's trouble."

"You're not my friend. And you don't know anything."

"Aubrey, she's a kid."

"She's not a kid."

"Tell that to her alcohol tolerance."

Aubrey frowned at him. "Even you've been drunk off your ass, Dean."

"Is she the quarter-life crisis that has you avoiding my calls?"

"I've been avoiding your calls because I don't want to talk to you." Aubrey replied flatly. And then added, "Ever."

"Babe, you know you've said that before."

"And I'm not the girl who didn't know any better anymore." Aubrey answered. "And you're pissing me off."

"I've heard that before, too."

Aubrey sighed in exasperation. "Find a new girl to mess around with, Dean. I'm done with your crap."

"You know, you say that, and that kind of hurts my feelings."

"Oh, those exist?" Aubrey retorted.

A retort he took in stride. "But you know what? When that chick stops being fun, or breaks your heart, or gets grounded and has to get home for curfew, you'll need a distraction and you still have my number."

Aubrey scoffed in derision. "I really don't."

He gave her a skeptical look. "I know girls like that, Aubrey. And girls like that get bored."

Aubrey gave him a withering glare. "Because you're such a stable and dependable person?"

"I never lied about why we were sleeping together."

Aubrey's glare never wavered, but she knew that what he said was true – he'd been straightforward and honest about their relationship, even when he had been a major jerk about it – and once upon a time, she had willingly bought into his spiel. "Leave. Now."

He had apparently said his piece, and he followed the instruction, getting up from the seat and leaving the restaurant.

Stacie gave Aubrey a few minutes to recover before she returned to her seat, smiling pleasantly at Aubrey.

Aubrey didn't buy it for a second. She glanced at Stacie with a resigned smile. "How long were you hiding?"

Stacie blushed in chagrin. "Long enough." She glanced down at her food, and then at her glass of juice, and realized that between her mouth feeling like death had crawled in and made a home there, and hearing that whole conversation, she wasn't feeling very hungry anymore. She glanced back up at Aubrey. "Who was that?"

"That? That was a mistake." Aubrey answered honestly.

"One time?"

"I wish."

Stacie regarded Aubrey carefully. "Did you love him?"

Aubrey eyed her warily. "I barely _liked_ him, half of the time."

Not really an answer, but Stacie could understand Aubrey's reluctance to discuss the subject. But something bothered her. "Bree?"

Aubrey looked at her.

"Why didn't you just tell him we were together?"

Aubrey sighed. "Because I didn't want to."

Stacie frowned.

"Dean…" Aubrey sighed again. "Dean is a jerk. But he's nice to look at and was fun to date. But he's still a jerk, and he's the kind of jerk that can play the good guy well enough to convince you that there's a nice guy underneath."

Stacie's brow furrowed in confusion.

"Just now? He left because he's sure that I'm going to come crawling back to him. He's so sure of it he can't even be bothered to think of you – of us, our relationship – as a threat." Aubrey continued. "He couldn't even be bothered to find out your name."

Stacie watched as Aubrey sat back in her seat, seeming to deflate.

"He knows I'm not much for dating." Aubrey admitted. "The Aubrey he knows isn't someone who can last very long in a serious relationship. If I had told him we were together? That you're not just some girl I'm hooking up with for fun?"

"He'll take it personally." Stacie surmised.

Aubrey nodded. "This way when Monday comes around and we're not seen together anymore, he'll lose interest and order is restored."

Stacie had to smile. "Until I show up again next weekend." Because now that she knew Aubrey was in the radar of such a douche, it was her good girlfriend duty to keep Aubrey away from him. "And the one after that."

"Oh," Aubrey shook her head, "I'm traveling."

"Time to save the big conglomerate infrastructure again?" Stacie queried.

Aubrey smiled. "Close. Corporate training."

Stacie frowned, her plans thwarted, until something occurred to her, and she tentatively ventured, "Southeastern region?"

Aubrey's smile grew. "Yes."


	45. Chapter 45

"I'll never understand why this uniform even has a scarf," Chloe grumbled, trying to knot the scarf around her neck without consulting a mirror. The very second she finished verbalizing her thought, she quickly looked around, as if girls of Barden Bellas past would spring out of nowhere to reprimand her voicing such a complaint, for even _thinking_ it… and for still not knowing how to knot her scarf properly.

"But you're willingly wearing it for the sixth straight year," Stacie noted dryly, watching Ashley swat Chloe's hands aside and fixing Chloe's scarf.

Chloe cut a glance at her, before quickly glancing away, biting her lip.

Stacie narrowed her eyes at the very suspicious behavior, but she wasn't able to give it more thought, as Fat Amy returned to the group and announced that it was almost time for the Bellas to take the stage.

It was, technically, a school event. The Barden Bellas had been invited to perform a short set for local employers and members of the administration and faculty of nearby colleges and universities. Honestly, the event seemed to be too stuffy and serious for the Bellas, but they had been invited by the local group through Barden University itself, which made it impossible for them to refuse the invitation.

And because it was a technically a school event, the Bellas had to behave themselves, which was proving difficult because they had arrived early, and boredom had quickly set in. Aside from the occasional person passing by who oddly followed collegiate a cappella, nobody seemed particularly interested in socializing with the obvious students.

"Please don't be bored," Denise mumbled as a plea to the crowd in general.

"Please don't touch yourself," Beca directed at Stacie, who rolled her eyes in response.

"I'll try." Stacie drawled, because _of course_ she wasn't going to touch herself during their performance. For one thing, she was on a scholarship, and she wasn't about to risk the free tuition just for kicks. The other reason was that there was no audience to win over, or a panel of judges to subtly seduce: it was just a bunch of older people who needed some quick entertainment to mark the break between the conference and the social hour.

But she was willing to forgive Beca her lack of discretion, because Beca was working hard on their set list for finals, making small changes to their existing set to find the fine line between what was popular and catchy, and what would be unique and extraordinary. The ICCA Finals were just a few weeks away, and with that and their school finals, Beca had the unenviable job of keeping the Bellas on the straight and narrow; because the last thing they needed was to get disqualified for whatever reason.

Stacie peeked out from behind the stage towards the crowd, hoping to find a familiar face: she had glimpsed Dave when the Bellas had entered the hall, and she seriously hoped he would still be around; a friendly face would be a blessing in this room full of stuffed shirts.

Beca had picked the safest, most listener-friendly set they had in their arsenal, more of the vein from the days when all they really did was sway in place – honestly, it was the kind of set Aubrey would have insisted on in the past – and even though the crowd aren't too vested in the performance, at least nobody was talking loudly over their singing.

That is, until a phone starts ringing during a break in their set, and Stacie knows she's not imagining the oh-so-familiar voice that answers the call. Or the blond head that disappears behind an exit.

She has no idea what Aubrey is doing in Atlanta, or why Aubrey hadn't told her ahead of time, but now that she knows Aubrey is here, Stacie couldn't wait until the set was over and she could hunt her girlfriend down.

They had barely finished singing the last note when Stacie was shoving her mic into Jessica's hands in the hopes of quickly walking towards the direction of the exit she'd seen Aubrey disappear to.

"Whoa there, where's the fire?" Fat Amy asked, grabbing her arm.

"Um," Stacie hesitated, before she quickly flicked her gaze down in the direction of the Hunter, making Fat Amy frown.

"In this room?" Fat Amy asked skeptically.

"Aubrey's here." Stacie clarified, a little offended that it needed to be said.

"In this room?" Fat Amy repeated, still skeptical. And then she paused, reconciling what had been their experience in the hotel ballroom so far and associating the stiff crowd with their former captain, and acknowledged, "Never mind. Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure." Stacie nodded.

Fat Amy released her arm. "Well, go!"

Stacie did, and when she followed Aubrey out of the same exit doors, she found the blonde standing by a table a few feet away from the hotel ballroom, standing with a redhead. The two of them were both on their phones, passing back and forth a piece of paper, occasionally pointing to something on it to emphasize their point.

Stacie paused her approach, frowning as she watched the similarly-dressed women stand closely with each other, their non-verbal communication through gestures and pointed glares emphasizing their individual points and clearly operating on the same wavelength regarding whatever it was they were dealing with.

Finally, the redhead smiled widely at something the person she was talking to said, and she gave Aubrey a thumbs-up, earning her a nod.

Their heads bent together to read whatever it was the redhead was writing down, and then Aubrey straightened up, nodding, before she left the table to continue her phone call, apparently needing to pace a bit. The redhead didn't follow, instead staying at the table to finish her own phone conversation.

Stacie didn't know the redhead, but she could hazard a guess.

But seeing Aubrey, and seeing her busy with something obviously related to her job, gave Stacie pause, as she knew Aubrey was uncomfortable exposing Stacie to certain aspects of her job, and tried to separate her personal life from her professional one.

As she turned back towards the ballroom to return to the Bellas, someone caught her wrist, and she turned to face a contrite Aubrey Posen, who was pocketing her phone.

"I guess this ruins my surprise," Aubrey said wryly, pulling Stacie aside.

Instantly forgetting about what she had just witnessed, Stacie slowly raked her gaze over Aubrey head to toe before looking back up and smiling at her. "If I'm getting Oversight Junior Executive Aubrey Posen in return, I'll take it."

Aubrey also gave Stacie an appreciative once over, enjoying the way the Bella uniform fit Stacie, her gaze flickering to certain assets, "Nice set."

Stacie smirked, "The 'set' could use some more of your attention."

Aubrey smiled back, drifting closer to the promise Stacie's lips offered, before she seemed to suddenly catch herself and took a hasty step back, blushing. "I really do mean the performance set."

"Sentiment stays the same, since you left in the middle of it." Stacie reminded, taking the hasty backpedal in stride. At Aubrey's sheepish nod, Stacie offered slyly, "I'm sure a private performance can be arranged."

"I'm only interested in one performance." Aubrey replied.

Stacie arched an eyebrow. "Choose your next words very wisely, Miss Posen."

Aubrey smiled. "I have a room."

"Let's—"

"Have you seen this?"

Both Aubrey and Stacie turned at the intrusion, and Stacie frowned as she came face to face with the redhead Aubrey had just been associating with.

"I literally _just_ ended a call." Aubrey answered her.

"Nashville's making noise again."

"They're always making noise."

"Well, they're making noise about how we're doing things." She noted.

"'We'?" Aubrey repeated, amused. "Speak for yourself."

The girl shot her a glare. "Not funny." She lifted her phone as she asked, "What do I tell them?"

"Let me read it first." Aubrey replied. "Bad?"

"It's heading there."

Aubrey made a face, but glanced quickly at Stacie, remembering her personal mandate not to discuss work around Stacie, and wondered the logistics of that mandate if Stacie was _at_ a work function. Her gaze quickly went from Stacie, to the redhead, and back, before she took a deep breath, bracing herself, and made introductions. "Stacie, this is Kathryn, Oversight liaison to the southeastern region. Kathryn, this is my girlfriend Stacie."

"Oh!" Kathryn expressed, her breathy tone and overt – possibly even exaggerated – surprise a telltale sign of her feigned enthusiasm, and Stacie wondered if it was possible to loathe someone based on a single syllable. She gave Stacie a scrutinizing head-to-toe once-over. "Right. You're a Barden Bella."

In return, knowing she was already treading thin ice with Aubrey regarding this woman, Stacie forced a smile at Kathryn. "It's nice to finally put a face to the name."

Kathryn arched an eyebrow, and tilted her head as she glanced at Aubrey, whose lips were pulling into a hard line. "You talk about me, Posen?"

"We work together," Aubrey reminded.

Kathryn smiled knowingly, and turned back to Stacie. "All good things, I hope."

"Your job keeps her in New York, so I have no idea," Stacie replied.

Aubrey sighed, but Kathryn only laughed, turning to Aubrey. "Well, she's honest."

"Isn't it refreshing?" Aubrey quipped.

"It's so quaint." Kathryn agreed amiably. "Your set was… cute."

Which, with the way she said it, was like the direct opposite of a compliment.

Stacie stepped closer to Aubrey. "I guess."

"Kathryn," Aubrey sighed, but her tone carried with it an undercurrent of a warning, "Be nice."

"She's dating you, clearly she can take it." Kathryn pointed out.

"Not the point." Aubrey shook her head.

Kathryn rolled her eyes. "Fine, I'll play nice." She smiled at Stacie. "Don't you think her protective streak is cute? She must do it a lot when it comes to you."

The smile that had been frozen on Stacie's face faded slightly at the remark, since it was becoming increasingly obvious that Kathryn was enjoying taking shots at Stacie, and that one had to be a pointed remark; and if Stacie were to guess, it was about her still being in school.

"You're both in Atlanta?" Stacie asked politely, hoping to steer the conversation back to safer waters.

"I've been in Atlanta," Kathryn nodded. She pointed at Aubrey. "This one's supposed to be in Savannah."

Aubrey smiled faintly at Stacie. "My boss is being honored at a dinner tonight. She told those of us in the area to show up for it."

Stacie's reply was interrupted by the approach of the Bellas, calling her attention as Beca informed her, "We have to head back to campus."

"Now?" Stacie whined.

"Already?" Aubrey asked.

Kathryn regarded the flock of Bellas, and pursed her lips, her gaze flickering over each of the Bellas and clearly generalizing her opinion of Stacie and how young she was and applying it to the rest of the Bellas.

Beca glanced at the girls with Stacie, and she did a doubletake as she took in the girl who had once been their Barden Bella captain. Impulsively, she threw her arms around Aubrey. "Aubrey!"

"Aubrey!" The group, clearly relieved to see a familiar and friendly face, all gathered around Aubrey to take part in a group hug.

"What are you doing here?" Fat Amy asked.

"Work." Aubrey said plainly, with a small shrug.

Chloe glanced around the room, at the older crowd that had barely brought themselves to applaud the Bellas' performance. " _This_ is your job?"

"Afternoon socials that get us out of the office are a fringe benefit." Kathryn replied, earning her a round of curious looks.

"And who is this?" Cynthia Rose asked, eyeing Kathryn appreciatively. The rest also eyed the redhead, but in a far less complimentary fashion.

"Kathryn." She replied, holding out her hand to the other girl.

"Kathryn." Chloe repeated.

"I work with Aubrey," she explained.

"You work _for_ me," Aubrey corrected dryly.

Kathryn gave her a playful glare. "Don't an asshole, Aubrey."

Aubrey shrugged again. "I'm the person the people you correspond with escalate to, though."

Kathryn rolled her eyes. "They only escalate because you never answer my emails."

"I have three other people to talk to at your level, and at least five higher up." Aubrey reminded.

"But you like me best, right?"

The Bellas watched the interplay, uncomfortable at being present for what could easily be construed as possible flirtation, with a few of them glancing over at Stacie, who was watching the whole thing with an inscrutable expression.

"Aubrey, Kathryn," someone called their attention, interrupting the scene, making the two older women turn at their names, and apparently the person calling them made them stand up straighter and adopt a more professional mien. The Bellas also turned to check what had their former captain going from a casual countenance to something far more intimidating, and saw an older woman a few feet away, motioning for the two women to approach.

Kathryn sighed, and muttered under her breath, "Command me, mistress."

Aubrey turned quickly to Stacie. "Duty calls. I'll call you later?" At Stacie's nod, she affectionately squeezed Stacie's arm as she left.

With Aubrey gone, the Bellas resumed their exit.

Once the doors were firmly shut behind them, Chloe declared, "So… we hate her."

"Who the hell was that?" Fat Amy demanded.

"She was hot." Cynthia Rose noted, to Denise's nod of agreement.

"She was not hot." Chloe retorted.

"She was kinda hot," Stacie reluctantly acknowledged, to which the other Bellas also nodded along.

Chloe rounded on Beca, who had concurred with Stacie's opinion. "You thought she was hot?"

"She's kinda pretty!" Beca said quickly, hoping to defend herself but mostly just increasing Chloe's ire. Beside her, Lilly gave her a sidelong glance before shaking her head in dismay.

"It's the red hair," Jessica mused, to which a few of the girls, including Beca, nodded vigorously in agreement.

Chloe scoffed. "As if. It's from a bottle."

Ashley glanced at Stacie. "You're okay?"

"I guess." Stacie shrugged. "Aubrey says there's nothing going on, and I trust her."

"Were they flirting?" Flo asked. She turned to Beca. "Was that flirting?"

Beca shrugged helplessly, unsure. "How would I know?"

On that point, at least, all the Bellas were in agreement.

Stacie jumped when she felt her phone ringing, and she fished her phone out from where she'd tucked it to her back with her skirt. "Hello?"

"Where are you?"

"Uh, outside?"

"Okay, I'll be there in—" Aubrey stopped short when she emerged from the ballroom and found herself surrounded by Barden Bellas. She dropped the call, frowning at them confused. "Were you waiting for someone?"

The Bellas glanced at each other.

Aubrey shook her head, and turned to Stacie. "Are you doing anything tonight?"

"I was hoping my girlfriend, but…" Stacie shrugged with feigned nonchalance, her answer making Aubrey blush while the other Bellas gave Stacie exasperated looks. "What did you have in mind?"

"Would you like to go to tonight's gala with me?"

Stacie didn't bother hiding her surprise. "To a work thing?"

Aubrey smiled faintly. "I know, it's almost guaranteed to be boring, but—"

"No, hey, I mean, I'd love to, mostly just to hang out with you, but are you sure? Because—"

"She'll go." Chloe interrupted, earning her surprised looks from both Aubrey and Stacie. And possibly all the other Bellas, too.

"I just said that." Stacie noted dryly.

"But, like a date?" Denise asked dubiously, because even if they were in Atlanta, they were still in _Georgia_ , and Georgia voted Republican.

"Well, no, not like 'a date'," Aubrey acknowledged. "Unless you count pretending to care about work and what my coworkers have to say, or my boss interviewing you about your career prospects, as a date."

Stacie was starting to reconsider.

"But there'll be food and an open bar." Aubrey finished.

"Just know that if you're not going, I will." Fat Amy told Stacie in a stage-whisper. When Aubrey gave her a weary look, the other woman shrugged. "You had me at 'open bar'."

The impasse was broken by Aubrey's phone, and she glanced at it briefly before looking back up at Stacie. "I know it'll be boring, and depending on the crowd we'll have to tone down the PDA, but—"

"Do you want me there?" Stacie asked.

Aubrey chuckled wryly. "For my sake, yes. For yours…. that's up for debate."

Stacie rolled her eyes with good humor, but nodded. "Pick me up."

"Awesome." Aubrey grinned at her, and kissed her quickly. "See you later." As soon as she said so, she turned and answered her phone. "This is Aubrey."

There was a collective pause, until Cynthia Rose let out a low whistle. "Dinner with the boss."

"Heavy stuff." Jessica agreed.

Stacie paused, frowning, and then her eyes widened as she realized the implications of accepting the invitation.

"Don't panic," Chloe advised.

"Too late." Stacie murmured.

"You'll be fine." Ashley assured her.

Stacie still looked doubtful, but allowed her friends to lead her out of the hotel and towards their van.


	46. Chapter 46

When Aubrey woke up that morning, she had been in Savannah, Georgia, wondering why she was being woken up at 5AM when her meeting with a regional team wasn't until ten. And then she realized it was an incoming call, and not her set alarm, that had set off her phone, resulting in her boss informing her of an event in Atlanta and that Aubrey, along with regional representatives and two other Oversight members, were expected to be there.

Aubrey had a tumultuous relationship with Georgia's main airline, which is why she had taken a rental car and driven the nearly four hours to Atlanta; but she would also take any opportunity to not have her schedule dictated by a flight schedule. And controlling her transportation schedule meant she could also control when she could head back to Savannah, since she was only due back in the afternoon of the next day.

Aubrey hadn't known if her boss would prefer her three Oversight subordinates to be available at her every beck and call until the gala dinner, which was why she hadn't informed Stacie of her presence in Atlanta. She had also been fielding calls and messages from different clients and coworkers through most of the day that she hadn't even noticed that the midafternoon social gathering among local companies and college had a scheduled performance from a local singing group.

She missed the Barden Bellas, and now that she wasn't keeping her distance from them, it was always a welcome experience to see them, and to see them perform, and Aubrey almost rejected the call from a subsidiary she knew was having problems that needed to be remedied immediately when it came in in the middle of the Bellas' performance.

And, well, she missed Stacie. And she can't believe she had forgotten how nicely Stacie wore the Barden Bellas' uniform.

And she hadn't been alone in her appreciation for the uniform, as Dave teased Aubrey about the uniform. But he had done it within earshot of her boss, and the connection was immediately made about Aubrey's alma mater and the intern she had started dating the previous summer, and it was very heavily implied that Aubrey should invite Stacie to the dinner that evening.

Aubrey had been reluctant - galas and award dinners tended to be boring beyond the telling of it, and she was loath to subject Stacie to it when she didn't have to – but it was her _boss_ , and Aubrey figured Stacie could keep her entertained, since Dave wasn't invited and without an accomplice, Aubrey knew she would be subjected to a dinner full of discussion of all their pending deadlines and projects in the pipeline.

She had badly misjudged how much her coworkers wanted to talk about work.

In hindsight, Aubrey had to concede that the regional managers were probably just that eager to have more face time with the Vice President of Operations, and they made productive use of their time.

But conversations about work in a public area meant speaking in code, using the aliases for the companies they worked with and what was happening with each one, making it impossible for people around them, eavesdroppers or otherwise, to follow what was being discussed.

And then there was the matter of Aubrey's coworkers making much of the matter regarding Aubrey dating someone still in the undergraduate college level in front of the college student herself, something that Aubrey could only grin and bear, because she was in front of her boss, and they were in public, making it impossible to react in any way other than to force a smile.

Her boss had enjoyed meeting Stacie, especially upon discovering they both had backgrounds in Engineering, though, and Aubrey was relieved to see that Stacie could hold her own in one of her work events.

While she didn't want to examine too closely why that was relevant or important, Aubrey was seriously wondering why, when the dinner ended, Stacie had asked to be brought back to the Barden campus.

Something about the way Stacie had asked had been enough for Aubrey to agree, to not ask why or any other questions, and simply acquiescing to the request.

Which explained how she ended up driving towards the Barden University campus, but not why she had the sinking feeling Stacie wasn't considering the dinner as the success Aubrey did.

Stacie hadn't actually said anything about it – or at all, really – and Aubrey had since stopped trying to fill in the silence with her own voice. When Aubrey had tried to put on some music, Stacie had muttered something about a headache.

When they turned into the street where the house where the Barden Bellas stayed, Aubrey sighed. "Stace, talk to me."

Stacie glanced at her, but didn't say a word.

Thus leaving Aubrey to draw her own conclusions. "You're angry."

With a resigned sigh, Stacie confessed, "I'm not."

Aubrey looked doubtful.

"Does it suck that your southeastern liaison clearly has a crush on you and can make everything that comes out of her mouth sound like she's flirting with you? Yeah, but getting mad about that is a bitch move, and I'm not a hypocrite." Stacie admitted.

"You know you have nothing to worry about, right?" Aubrey asked worriedly, because she knew it was a sore subject, the wounds from their last disagreement about Kathryn still so fresh, but she had no interest in Kathryn, and at most they were just _friendly_ , not even really friends.

"I know." Stacie reluctantly conceded, and smiled weakly at Aubrey. "And being in that room, I think it kinda works out for you, because nobody really paid attention to us when your coworker talks to you the way she does."

Aubrey hadn't really thought of it that way, but in hindsight she had to admit, Kathryn _did_ talk to her and some other coworkers in a manner that bordered on flirtatious, playing up her adoptive Southern charm; a tactic that Aubrey never really could deploy herself, but admittedly worked well for Kathryn.

But it didn't answer the question of why Stacie was being so icy with her. "Then why—"

"So I'm kind of glad I went to that dinner with you?" Stacie interrupted, referring to her discovery that while Kathryn's attraction to Aubrey was real, her charm and slyness wasn't just for Aubrey and Stacie's benefit. "But that was a really sucky way to realize - no, to really come to terms with – the fact that I know almost _nothing_ about your job."

Aubrey glanced at her, frowning. "That's not true."

Stacie gave her a weary look. "There were like eight or ten people at that table, and only four of you knew everything that was being talked about." Stacie pointed out. She let out an uncomfortable laugh. "Four people at the table knew what was being talked about, and you were one of them."

"What does that—"

"I always knew you were kind of a big deal, but I didn't know…" Stacie frowned. "I thought it was weird they kept making fun of you for dating me, but considering what you do, I kind of don't blame them."

"They weren't making fun of you."

"Bree, they kept asking me if you were going to take me to the prom," Stacie reminded.

Aubrey paused, and although she hadn't actually heard any of it, she conceded Stacie's point. Her coworkers could be jerks.

"I didn't even know how many of your coworkers knew who you were dating." Stacie admitted.

"Yeah…" Aubrey drew out slowly, and admitted, "It kind of got hard to play it down when we were tagging each other all over Facebook."

"Oh." Stacie paused, pursing her lips, before she hazarded, "Did I out you?"

Surprisingly, Aubrey laughed softly, and shook her head. "I was tagging and uploading stuff, too. That ship sailed a long time ago. Don't worry about it."

"You know I worry."

Aubrey glanced at her. "I'm fine, Stacie."

"Would you tell me if you weren't?"

Aubrey frowned. "Have I indicated at any point that I wouldn't?"

"Projects Clement and Endeavor would beg to differ." Stacie noted.

Aubrey's brow furrowed, since she was pretty sure she'd never mentioned any of those project names to Stacie.

"And who in Oversight is into Star Trek, because that's super nerdy, even for me." Stacie added. She noticed Aubrey's troubled look. "Those were the two of the names that kept coming up, and you were always involved when they did."

Aubrey smiled wryly, appreciating the fact that the consequences of dating someone smart and who paid attention was that very little slipped past her. "It's stressful, but it's nothing out of the ordinary."

"You're sure?"

Aubrey's smile grew wan. "If anything changes, I'm pretty sure you'll be one of the first to know."

"Because you'll tell me?"

"Or because I'll show up out of nowhere and everything's pretty much fallen apart."

Stacie rolled her eyes. "So dramatic. Let's try not letting things get that far."

"I'll try."

"Don't just _try_." Stacie smiled patiently at her. "Do, or do not. There is no try."

Once more to her surprise, Aubrey let out an inelegant snort of laughter. "You're such a nerd."

"You don't even know what I'm quoting." Stacie protested.

Aubrey chuckled. "Wes had me watching Star Wars with him a few days ago."

Stacie frowned. "I wanted you to watch Star Wars with me!"

"I lost a bet."

Stacie still only pouted.

Aubrey shrugged. "I don't know what to tell you."

Stacie frowned at her. "You're supposed to say you'll make it up to me!"

"And that can only lead to something worse than having to sit through the Lord of the Rings trilogy, I'm not setting myself up for that." Aubrey retorted. "I love you, but I'm not an idiot."

Stacie gasped in exaggerated horror. "You said you liked them!"

"I also wanted to keep getting laid, and those are two closely-linked concepts." Aubrey reminded.

Stacie huffed in indignation. "Maybe you _won't_ get laid anymore, how about that."

Aubrey arched an eyebrow. "I don't know how that punishes me more than you."

Stacie glared at her.

Aubrey shrugged again, even as a small smile pulled on her lips. "I mean, we might as well break up now, if the options are between Lord of the Rings or sex."

"You suck so badly right now." Stacie told her, and added her own insult. "And it's especially rich, for someone who's watched every season of Grey's Anatomy _and_ its spin-off."

Aubrey turned to her sharply. "You did _not_ just insult the creations of Shonda Rhimes."

"If the shoe fits." This time, it was Stacie's turn to shrug.

Aubrey gaped at her. "What did you just say?"

Channeling her inner Sheriff Woody Pride, Stacie enunciated, "If. The shoe. Fits."

Aubrey narrowed her eyes at Stacie, but didn't say a word.

Stacie smiled smugly at her. "I'm pretty hot right now, aren't I?"

Aubrey rolled her eyes good-naturedly, which was enough of an answer in the affirmative for Stacie. "You're lucky you're so hot."

"I really am." Stacie smiled brightly at her, earning her a reluctant grin from her girlfriend. "So the question is, Aubrey, do _you_ feel lucky?" She smiled coyly, leaning in closer to the blonde. "Do you?"

Aubrey arched an eyebrow, for the moment successfully rebuffing the younger woman's advances. "Considering you made me drive you home, I'm gonna go with 'no'."

Obviously not having expected a negative answer, Stacie paused for a beat, analyzing the response, before she glanced at the house they were parked in front of, brow furrowed in thought. And then she turned to Aubrey with increasing mortification as realization dawned. "You had a room."

Aubrey nodded. "I have a room."

"Sonofabitch." Stacie swore, slumping in her seat in resignation. She sighed, and ran a hand through her hair. "We can't, like, head back, or…?"

Aubrey chuckled. "Remember how we only got out of having drinks with my boss because you're technically still underage?"

Stacie grimaced in understanding. "And we might run into them at the lobby by the time we get back to the hotel."

"You're so smart." Aubrey praised.

And the Bellas were bound to have questions, and Chloe was likely to give Aubrey a hard time about the redheaded liaison she'd been talking to that afternoon. Stacie sighed, and leaned in to kiss Aubrey before she said in resignation, "I guess this is good night."

Aubrey's response was cut off by a loud noise from somewhere nearby, startling her but only merely surprising Stacie, who suddenly looked exponentially more appeased by whatever it was she'd heard. "What—"

Stacie shook her head, cutting Aubrey's question off. "Want to come see my room?"

Aubrey frowned, confused. "I've seen your room."

Stacie rolled her eyes, and shook her head again. "You're lucky you're so hot, because that was someone cannonball-ing into the Trebles' pool—"

"Gross."

"—and the Bellas have automatic invites to their parties." Stacie finished. She knew she was bound to be doing more chores than were her fair share, but she refused to be denied spending time with Aubrey. She quirked an eyebrow in Aubrey's direction when she saw Aubrey still obviously thinking about the Trebles and their pool, if her grimace was anything to go by. "The house is empty. Let's go."

"You know you can't just order me around, right?" Aubrey asked, setting aside her Treble-related disgust to address Stacie with a little humor.

"Yeah, because ordering people around is your specialty." Stacie shrugged. "You must be rubbing off on me." She paused at her words, and smiled deviously. "Or on. Whatever. I just know there's a considerable amount of rub—"

"So the house is empty?" Aubrey cut in loudly, before Stacie went off entirely on her tangent.

"Yes."

They barely make it to the front door, and it's entirely on sense memory that Aubrey remembered to lock the car doors, but the minute the door is closed behind them and they're indoors, Stacie made her intent clear on staking her claim on Aubrey.

Stacie groaned as she pried herself away from Aubrey. "We can't do this here."

Aubrey hesitated, unsure of what Stacie meant.

Without another word, Stacie took hold of Aubrey's hand and led her up to the second floor. Over her shoulder, she explained, "I just bought this really expensive dress, I'm not risking anything happening to it."

Aubrey tilted her head to the side, partly in thought and mostly admiring the view she was afforded as she walked behind Stacie. "You didn't have to buy something new."

Stacie laughed. "Babe, I wasn't sitting at a table with your boss in some random dress I've worn before."

"Point. But at least let me pay for it?"

Stacie glanced over her shoulder briefly. "You like it that much?"

Aubrey smiled. "Sure."

Stacie pouted as they stopped in front of her door. "That's not very convincing."

"I think I'll like it better once I take it off you." Aubrey grinned at her.

Stacie grinned back, and pushed the door open as she maneuvered Aubrey into the room. "I'd like to test that theory."

Aubrey makes short work of getting the dress off Stacie, and if she thought she was prepared to see Stacie in sheer black chemise, she was very, very wrong.

Stacie grinned, pecking Aubrey's lips when the blonde actually took a full moment to enjoy the visual. "I think you like this more than the dress."

Aubrey audibly swallowed, and there was a rasp to her voice when she questioned, "This is new, too?"

Stacie pushed her onto her bed, and stepped out of the discarded black dress. "Yes, but this one, you won't have to pay for."

"Yay me." Aubrey smiled as Stacie joined her in bed and covered her mouth with her own.

"Yay you," Stacie agreed breathlessly, pulling Aubrey up slightly to get rid of the hairpin holding her hair up, admiring the way her blond hair cascaded down and bit her lip as she imagined tangling her fingers through her hair. She leaned back in for a kiss, but before they could resume, were cut off by the loud bang of the Bellas' front door being slammed open, and the too-familiar sounds of the cacophony of her friends' voices in varied states of inebriation floated through the house. Knowing instinctively what the Bellas being back in the house meant, Stacie whimpered, turning back to Aubrey with an expression of complete frustration.

"Baby, I know," Aubrey agreed to Stacie's unvoiced frustration, willing her own libido down, because while they've undoubtedly had sex in the house while the Bellas were around before, they've also mostly done it when the girls had already passed out and/or sleeping.

Stacie, however, chose to be an optimist. "Maybe they won't—"

"Hey, Stace, are you home, cause—" Beca's voice asked loudly, before the door to the room started to open, only to be slammed back shut when Stacie grabbed a thick book from her bedside and threw it at the door. "Ow! The fuck, dude?"

"I'm naked!" Stacie snapped, playfully hitting Aubrey's shoulder when she muttered under her breath, "I wish."

Beca, however, only paused and asked, "And...?"

Stacie rolled her eyes, earning herself some light chuckling from her girlfriend. "Aubrey's naked, too." At Aubrey's perturbed pout, Stacie told her, "If I'm going down, I'm taking you with me."

But Stacie's all-too-plausible lie seemed to give Beca adequate pause, and she ventured, "We have tequila from the Trebles' stash."

"We're fine, thanks." Stacie said in exasperation.

Beca, for her part, had no idea what to do or say next, except to request, "Keep it down, please?"

Stacie turned to Aubrey, who unfortunately was distracted by something near the door. Addressing Beca, she called out, "We'll try."

"Great." Beca answered. "Okay."

After a long enough period in which Stacie was sure Beca had gone, Stacie went to the door to lock it, and returned to the bed, where Aubrey looked confused, in turn making her look at Aubrey curiously. "What's wrong with you?"

Aubrey pointed at the book Stacie had thrown at the door. "Why do you have a copy of New Moon?"

Stacie turned to look at where Aubrey was pointing, and then quickly turned back to Aubrey. "It's not what you think."

"Are you reading the Twilight saga?" Aubrey asked, both in awe and amusement.

"Okay, it _is_ what you think, but baby, I can explain."

"Do tell." Aubrey prodded.

Stacie opened her mouth, considered, and sighed. "I wanted to see why you and Chloe like the series so much."

"But the books suck."

"But this way I don't have to look at vampires that sparkle." Stacie reminded.

Conceding that point, Aubrey also considered the fact that she'd just so recently denounced the Lord of the Rings; meaning this didn't look good for Aubrey, and she knew it. She sighed deeply. "I'm gonna have to sit through The Hobbit, aren't I?"

Stacie grinned, and pushed her back down to the bed. "I promise to make it worth your while."

She didn't really have to, but Aubrey wasn't about to argue.

"Now," Stacie said coyly, her right hand sliding up Aubrey's side, "Where were we?"


	47. Chapter 47

Short of the front door, Stacie used the hold Aubrey had on her hand and pulled the older girl back towards her, the two of them ending up with their chests pressed together. Stacie cupped her cheek with her free hand, and kissed her softly. "Don't go."

Aubrey moaned softly, muttering against Stacie's lips, "Don't tempt me."

Stacie's eyes flashed with mirth and mischief. "Challenge—"

"That wasn't a challenge." Aubrey quickly interrupted. She had a feeling Stacie wouldn't actually have to do much to sway her, anyway. "And you know I have to."

Stacie pouted, making Aubrey smile as she lightly bit on her lower lip, and made Stacie deepen their next kiss.

It was early, and Stacie had made her displeasure at being awake at such an ungodly hour known; a displeasure made more pronounced when Aubrey declared she had to get going and start the drive back to Savannah.

There were probably a few better places than the entryway of the Bellas' front door for Aubrey and Stacie to have their make-out session before Aubrey had to leave, but Chloe had barged into the room she shared with Stacie the minute Aubrey had stepped into the shower – probably clued in by the sound of running water that it was safe to enter – and the couple were now deliberately trying to avoid any horizontal surfaces. Not that it had stopped them before.

But what _did_ succeed in stopping them was being interrupted, this time by Beca and Cynthia Rose opening the front door and entering the house, coffee and paper sacks in hand.

"Do you ever stop?" Beca asked wearily.

For her part, Cynthia Rose only laughed, taking in Aubrey's obviously-borrowed clothes and the folded dress on her arm before she lifted her hand up at Stacie, palm out, and cackled when Stacie gave her a high five.

"Only because we have to," Stacie answered Beca. She regarded her friends, and guessed, "early shift?"

Beca nodded. "I had to cover for someone, and CR agreed to help me out."

Stacie blinked, and noted, "Cool." She pointed at the sacks. "Breakfast?"

Aubrey hid her face to chuckle under her breath, earning her a hard nudge to the ribs from Stacie, while Beca only nodded.

"We weren't sure if anyone would be awake this early…" Beca admitted.

"Did you work up an appetite?" Cynthia Rose joked.

"I got a major workout," Stacie deadpanned.

Beca frowned at the two of them, not sure if she wanted to ask for an explanation, and then turned to Aubrey. "You're leaving?"

"Duty calls." Aubrey admitted reluctantly.

Beca made a face. "Your job sucks."

"And it doesn't get easier, so, yeah, probably," Aubrey conceded, sighing. She shrugged. "Pays really well, though."

"What exactly do you do? And don't you have help?" Beca asked curiously.

"That's kinda confidential," Aubrey admitted. "And of course I have help."

"So what's the story with you and the hot redhead all up on your business yesterday?" Cynthia Rose asked, and tried to recall the name. "Cathy?"

"Kathryn." Both Beca and Stacie corrected, in very contrasting tones: Beca's was factual, but Stacie let her annoyance show.

"She was not…" Aubrey shook her head. "And don't get ideas, Cynthia Rose."

"Why shouldn't she?" Stacie asked archly.

"Because she's my subordinate and kind of my friend, so if she hurts anyone – yes, I _do_ mean _anyone_ – I'm the one who's going to have to deal with the fall out." Aubrey answered. She shrugged. "Besides, Stacie hates her and we do what we can to keep my girlfriend happy."

Stacie beamed. "Right on."

Cynthia Rose just shook her head in amusement.

Beca coughed into her fist, "whipped."

"What was that, Beca?" Aubrey asked, arching an eyebrow, knowing _exactly_ what Beca had just said.

"I said," Beca pasted on a fake smile, "Where to, this time?"

"Savannah," Aubrey answered, letting Stacie wrap her arms around her waist from behind.

"So you'll be back soon?" Stacie asked.

"I said nothing anywhere near that," Aubrey mused.

"You should," Stacie told her.

"I—" Aubrey started, but was interrupted by the ringing of her phone. She sighed, checking the screen, and excused herself as she moved to another part of the house to take the call and answering it with, "It's too early."

Stacie watched her go, brow furrowed in thought.

"For someone who got laid last night, you don't look too happy," Cynthia Rose observed, regarding Stacie.

Stacie gave her a wan smile, and shook her head. "I'm just thinking."

"Don't think too hard." Cynthia Rose advised, before handing the food to Stacie and heading towards the stairs. "I'm gonna go sleep before morning class."

"Check the mix I gave you!" Beca reminded as Cynthia Rose climbed the steps. She turned to Stacie, and indicated the kitchen. "I'm gonna bring these in and get some sleep, too."

Stacie nodded absently, following Beca into the kitchen and placing the food sacks Cynthia Rose had given her on the table. And then she paused and asked, "Don't you have class at eight?"

Beca shrugged. "It's Music History. Let's be honest, that's not going anywhere."

Stacie had to smile at Beca's lackadaisical approach to her college curriculum; she personally would prefer to be as laid-back about her academics, but she needed decent grades if she wanted to get into a good post-graduate program. Still, she kind of admired the fact that Beca could pretty much sleep through her classes and still pass them.

Beca yawned, and mumbled, "See you later."

"Thanks for last night." Stacie blurted out suddenly, seeing Beca start to leave.

Beca paused, and smiled wryly as she turned back to Stacie, "Maybe we don't tell Chloe I didn't interrupt you and Aubrey getting down."

A broad smile came unbidden on Stacie's face.

"Gross." Beca told her.

Stacie laughed, but admitted, "That wasn't exactly what I was talking about."

Beca tilted her head inquisitively.

Stacie indicated the living room, in the general direction where Aubrey was still on her phone. "Not mentioning the deal about not being allowed to have sex in the house," she explained. "Thanks for not saying anything."

"Yeah," Beca shrugged, but her complexion started turning pink, "You already got her naked, I wasn't gonna be the one to prevent Aubrey Posen from getting laid."

"Really?"

"She obviously need the stress relief." Beca acknowledged. "And she's scary enough as it is."

"You wouldn't have hesitated before."

Beca smiled wryly. "I guess I'm growing as a person."

"I just..." Stacie smiled weakly. "I mean it. Thank you. Everyone must have been pissed."

Beca shrugged. "I mean, I get why we can't all be having sex in the house, but it's not like she hogs the bathroom and doesn't put the seat back down."

Stacie laughed, and threw her arms around Beca in a tight hug. "You're the best, Becs."

Beca immediately tried to pull back, while also pushing Stacie away, making Stacie pout. "Dude, your girlfriend learned last night that I've seen you naked. I don't want her to kill me."

"She wouldn't _kill_ you. Prison is harsh."

"I've seen Orange is the New Black, Stacie, she'll thrive in prison." Beca pointed out.

"Yeah, but you're kind of friends now, she won't kill you for seeing me naked." Stacie's pout grew more pronounced, and she grumbled, "Besides, Aubrey doesn't get jealous."

"What?" Beca asked.

"Aubrey." Stacie repeated. "She doesn't get jealous."

"Posen?" Beca clarified, pointing in Aubrey's direction.

Stacie nodded.

"I find that impossible to believe," Beca admitted.

"I mean, yeah, she gets a little jealous – mostly she just gets annoyed – but she just takes everything with a grain of salt, and…" Stacie frowned. "Like, am I not hot enough?"

"You're my friend, Stace, and your girlfriend scares me. I really don't know how to answer that." Beca confessed.

"Meanwhile," Stacie continued, clearly on a roll, "I'm so jealous of that stupid redheaded liaison that it's not even something I can joke about. I'm not a fan of some of the coworkers and friends. I'm jealous of her _other_ coworkers and friends, because they see her more often than I do. I'm jealous of her _boss_ , and that woman's been married for almost thirty years and basically treats Aubrey like the preferred godchild. I've never met her roommate, but he lives with her and has TV dinners _and_ breakfast with her."

"Aubrey lives with a guy?" Beca asked, confused.

"And then she finds out you're non-reactive to the fact that I'm naked in my room, and _nothing_." Stacie finished. "And considering we all know how hot her jealousy streak runs on something as random as Chloe willing to overrule her for your ideas, I don't know what to think anymore."

Beca blinked, staring at her. Her expression then went through a myriad of emotions, clearly trying to pin one down, before she finally went with: "Aubrey's roommate is a guy?"

"Yes, Beca, and she says I shouldn't worry about it, but I've never seen him, so I don't know what they're like when they're together, and can we please focus?" Stacie asked insistently.

Beca shook her head slightly, evidently at a loss, because her next question was about Aubrey and Chloe, and she didn't know if she wanted to deal with that so early in the morning. Finally, she declared, "I'm gonna go and get some sleep."

"Beca!"

"She's nuts about you, okay?" Beca reminded. "She's liked you from the word go, and maybe she would've been that much more awesome sooner if you two had been together from the start, but if she's pretending not to be jealous, you're forgetting about the night after semis, because that was scary, and we've seen her go _Damien_."

Stacie paused, confused. "You mean The Omen?" But what that had to do with Aubrey, she wasn't sure.

"No," Beca shook her head, because she was vaguely aware as much as she was conflating her evil child movies, that wasn't what she was referring to. "I'm talking about, you know, with the throwing up, and stuff."

"The Exorcist?"

"Is that the movie with the possessed kid?"

Stacie frowned at her, because Beca was dating someone who wanted to produce film scores.

Beca squirmed, but soldiered through the scrutiny. "I'm just saying, she's more into you than just being petty jealous, okay? And you two have gone through a lot, a lot more than just getting jealous over a hot redhead who probably talks business like she does, or a bunch of people you're Instagram-dancing with."

"But you were worried about her getting angry that you've seen me naked?" Stacie asked, confused.

"Dude, your girlfriend's insane, OK? I don't know what's going to tip her off."

"I heard that."

Beca cringed in reaction to Aubrey's voice.

Stacie glanced at Aubrey over Beca's head. "Beca was worried about how you reacted about knowing she's seen me naked."

"Oh." Aubrey shrugged. "Did she get a good look, because that might be how I measure how much I want to gouge her eyes out."

"See?" Beca told Stacie.

"You barely reacted," Stacie reminded Aubrey as they stood next to each other.

"Yeah, well," Aubrey shrugged. "I've been backstage with the other Bellas for costume changes and used to live with Chloe. I've probably seen Chloe naked more than Beca's seen you, so I can't really-"

"Wait, what?" Both Beca and Stacie asked, blanking on Aubrey's statement.

Aubrey frowned at them. "I love her, dearly, but the girl has no concept of boundaries or personal space." She paused, her frown deepening, suddenly reminded of another gross violation of roommate boundaries and personal space.

And suddenly didn't feel so guilty about keeping Chloe out of the room she shared with Stacie.

Snapping out of it, Aubrey turned back to Stacie. "I really have to go."

For their part, both Beca and Stacie had to concede Aubrey's point about Chloe, and couldn't really refute her assertion.

Reminded of their impending separation, Stacie pouted at Aubrey, lip protruding in an exaggerated manner. "But I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too." Aubrey smiled, gently running her thumb over Stacie's bottom lip to stop her from pouting. "Pretty much all the time."

"You should totally work in Atlanta full time. Or somewhere nearby." Stacie grumbled as she gently traced a line along Aubrey's neck and collarbone with her fingers. She paused, and then as an aside, noted, "I'll miss the make-up sex, though."

"I'm right here." Beca reminded, having her path to the stairs blocked by her friends.

"When can you come back?" Stacie asked Aubrey, ignoring Beca.

Aubrey grimaced. "I actually have no idea."

Stacie tilted her head slightly. "I can go see you."

"I have no idea where I'll be in the coming weeks," Aubrey admitted. "But let's see, OK? I'll see what I can do."

"You'll be in New York for the ICCAs, right?" Beca asked.

"That's the plan," Aubrey nodded. "Even if I'll have to call in not a few favors."

"And you owe me dinner at a fancy restaurant and a Broadway show," Stacie reminded.

Aubrey gave her a sidelong look.

Stacie shrugged. "What can I say? I'm dating you for your money."

"I thought you were dating me for the sex and to buy you alcohol?" Aubrey queried innocently, a teasing smile on her lips.

Stacie smiled at her, leaning in closer until she and Aubrey were a hair's breadth apart. "I _do_ enjoy the sex. And the drinks. The money's good, too. But mostly the sex."

"I'm still right here." Beca grumbled.

Aubrey smirked at Stacie, oblivious to Beca. "Lucky, because I like the sex, too."

"Seriously still right here." Beca groaned.

"Not the conversation?"

Aubrey chuckled lowly. "Mostly because that's what guarantees the sex."

Stacie grinned, but there was a small problem. "Beca."

"Yeah?"

"Go." Stacie stepped aside to let Beca pass, and Beca did not need to be instructed twice, rushing her way up the steps.


	48. Chapter 48

Despite her reservations regarding Aubrey and her continuing work with a certain redheaded liaison, Stacie couldn't dwell on it for very long, as she found her time occupied with rehearsals and completing school requirements leading to their finals, and consciously avoiding every and any suggestion to work once more as a summer intern - even one from her last summer job, because, well, because apparently they were no longer a subsidiary and had been bought into the monolithic group of companies that was Aubrey's employer.

When she'd asked Aubrey about it, the girl just sighed and replied that it had been an 11th hour acquisition, one that was well above her pay grade and hadn't been consulted on.

Besides, Aubrey wasn't likely to be on a self-imposed exile in Philadelphia for two summers in a row, and Stacie was hedging her bets that Aubrey would want her around for the summer, at least the few weeks after the Bellas' presumptive ICCA tour.

But while possible employment was the least of Stacie's concerns, the same couldn't be said for Denise, who pulled her aside one day and asked for a favor.

Stacie frowned. "You want to work for Aubrey?"

Which was weird, because she was pretty sure Denise was legitimately frightened of Aubrey.

"Not _for_ Aubrey," Denise quickly corrected. "But maybe she knows of job openings? Or stuff?"

Aubrey probably did, since moving people through the corporate hierarchy was supposed to be her main job description.

And then Stacie realized why Denise was asking for a job recommendation from Aubrey. "You're graduating."

Denise nodded. "If I pass my finals, yeah."

Stacie grinned, and hugged her friend. "That's awesome! Why haven't you told everyone?"

At that, some of Denise's joy seemed to fade, and she admitted, "Chloe."

"Chloe?" Stacie echoed blankly. Chloe, after all, was a shining beacon of light in their group of Bellas; there was no real rhyme or reason why Denise would be hesitant to share something as joyous as her impending graduation.

"She gets weird when graduation comes up," Denise confided.

That was true, and Stacie couldn't refute the assertion. Stacie had noticed the same thing regarding her roommate, and was already worrying about whether talking to Aubrey about her suspicions was the right thing to do, or a recipe for disaster.

"But I figure, if I have a job lined up, she can't get too mad, right?" Denise mused hopefully.

And to be fair, it had worked for Aubrey when she'd graduated and had effectively bailed out on each one of the plans she and Chloe had made for that summer.

Of course, Chloe hadn't been graduating at the time, and Aubrey had taken the job as her own version of a petty rebellion against Chloe, so Stacie couldn't really be sure either way.

"So you'll talk to Aubrey, right?" Denise prompted.

"Yeah," Stacie nodded. "But why don't you just ask her?"

Denise gave her a bewildered look, and let out a short, sharp bark of laughter. "Right. Because she doesn't scare me _at all_."

"Please don't call my girlfriend scary."

Denise smiled knowingly at Stacie. "Only because I know Aubrey's scary mode kind of turns you on."

"She's so hot when she yells," Stacie conceded.

Denise laughed. "Didn't need to know that about the two of you, but okay."

Stacie rolled her eyes. "And you should tell the girls."

"I will." Denise promised. "I'm just hoping to do it after the ICCAs."

"Denise!"

"Chloe has a scary mode, too, you know." Denise told her. "And she doesn't like me nearly as much as she likes Aubrey."

Stacie conceded that point. But knowing that someone else had noticed Chloe's odd behavior at the topic of graduation gave the issue more relevance, and Stacie knew she needed to bring it up with Aubrey, hopefully to avoid the same confrontation they'd had earlier in the year when both Stacie and Chloe had neglected to tell Aubrey about Chloe's continued undergraduate studies.

And Denise's request.

Denise's request could be sent by text message, but the Chloe issue required a more delicate approach, and Stacie thought that would be so much easier to do if Aubrey Posen answered her phone like a normal person.

"Aubrey Posen's phone."

"Hey, are you busy?"

"I'm at work, so yeah."

"Oh." Stacie deflated, and checked the time to confirm her suspicions. "It's eight PM. Where are you?"

"I can't tell you that, and I think you know what that means when I'm also stuck at work, so this is nothing new."

Stacie frowned at the exasperated tone in Aubrey's voice. "Want to talk about it?"

"Yes, but I can't." Aubrey admitted.

So it was bad. "That bad?"

"If I don't do my job, it can only get worse," Aubrey replied. "But I could really use a break. What's up?"

Well, she wasn't telling Aubrey about Chloe _now_. "Has Denise called you?"

"Why would Denise call me?"

"She's asking if you could set her up with a job."

Aubrey paused, and hazarded, "Because…?"

"She's graduating." Stacie reminded.

"Sociology?"

"Social Work." Stacie corrected.

"Why?" Aubrey expressed, before she caught herself and amended, "I mean, oh." Aubrey let out a breath. "I guess I can do that. It won't be anything glamorous, but it'll be a job. Tell her to send me her resume."

"You can do that?" Stacie asked curiously. She knew Aubrey was kind of hot stuff, but she had sorely underestimated Aubrey's position.

"I'm in Operations, I can do that." Aubrey replied. "I can hook you up with a job."

"I'm into other forms of hooking with you."

Aubrey paused. "Uh…"

Stacie rolled her eyes at herself. "That didn't sound right to me, either." She smiled faintly. "But since I've mentioned it…"

"Are you offering?"

"Are you buying?"

"Why are you still implying you can be bought?" Aubrey asked curiously, but there was a lightness to her voice.

"I don't know!" Stacie exclaimed, laughing.

"I'm concerned."

"Me too, a little." Stacie admitted. "But when are you gonna be free again?"

"About a week from _never_." Aubrey groaned. "Someone high up in Ops up and left, and even with non-competes and non-disclosures, we're kind of scrambling after him. And that's on top of stuff we have to do anyway. But at least I'm not the one in charge of finding his replacement."

"Aw, baby, I'm sorry."

"Me too." Stacie could almost imagine the patented Posen pout on Aubrey's lips. "I hate that guy."

"Me too." Stacie agreed. "You want me to come over?"

"Yes." Aubrey sighed. "But I'll be in meetings this weekend."

"Why does your job suck," Stacie complained. "Next?"

"Same story."

Stacie whined. "You're lucky you're so hot, because the hunter has needs, Aubrey."

Aubrey laughed. "I love you too, but you need to tell him to chill."

"I would, but I have needs, too."

"Well, you need to chill, too."

Stacie pouted. "But I want to see you."

"I know, me too," Aubrey sighed. "But that's not looking likely anytime soon."

Stacie sighed as well. "This is not going to work in the long run."

"I know." Aubrey agreed. "But we'll have New York."

"That's in forever." Stacie whined. "And then there'll be a tour; and then who knows. What if I decide to start an internship somewhere and hook up with some other former Bella captain I hardcore crushed on and who I slept with on her graduation?"

"That's just a risk we'll have to take," Aubrey deadpanned. "And I'd hope you're not going to sleep with Chloe just to make that happen."

Well, that was as good an opening as any. "About that…"

"Please don't have sex with Chloe ever." Aubrey requested dryly.

"But she's here," Stacie teased, amused at Aubrey's possible deliberate misunderstanding of her segue.

"Remember how I said I'll never touch you again if you had sex with a Treble?" Aubrey reminded.

"Yes…"

"That also applies to Bellas." Aubrey informed her.

"But if we play by those rules, then I shouldn't be dating you either," Stacie pointed out.

"I'm an exception."

"You are, but you drive a hard bargain, Aubrey Posen," Stacie drawled.

"You think this is hard? I watched the Lord of the Rings trilogy _and_ I'm going to watch The Hobbit with you," Aubrey returned. "That's hard."

Which reminded her: "Yeah, we really should have watched Smaug last Christmas."

"Smaug?"

"The sequel."

"There's a sequel?"

"Yes, baby, and I know there's only one book, and there are already so many differences between the books and movies, but-"

"Sex. Which we may never have again."

Stacie laughed, gamely allowing her rant to be interrupted. "Fine. But you know you're going to have to watch the trilogy anyway, right?"

"There are _three_ Hobbit movies?" If incredulity could sound like a whine, Aubrey was able to accomplish it.

"The third one comes out this Christmas."

There was a definite whine in response to that information. "Maybe we _won't_ spend Christmas together this year."

Stacie shrugged, because despite Aubrey's assertions, they both knew Aubrey was going to end up watching all three Hobbit movies eventually. "And I'm expecting a lot of sex for this current drought, Aubrey."

"It's barely been a month," Aubrey noted.

"It's the bad kind of orgasm denial, and I'm not pleased." And if Stacie had ever thought the words 'orgasm denial' would ever be a part of any relationship she was in, she did not expect it would be in this context.

But at least her girlfriend knew she wasn't just making idle complaints.

"I promise to make it up to you." Aubrey assured her.

Stacie let out an exaggerated sigh of resignation. "Fine. But take care of yourself, won't you? I'd like to call you one day and have the reason why you can't talk be because you're out with friends."

"I'll try."

And the part Stacie hated, but couldn't tell Aubrey, was that they both knew _trying_ was the most Aubrey could promise when it came to taking better care for herself.

Before they hung up, however, Aubrey had to ask: "Are there really three Hobbit movies?"

"Yes. Stop pouting."

Stacie, however, did not follow her own instruction, as the following days found her calls and texts to Aubrey left unanswered until late at night with apologies, and she found herself pouting more than usual when she realized Aubrey seemed to avoid making any kind of promise whenever Stacie asked about when they could next see each other.

Especially since the text replies started coming in at a later time each time, and once Aubrey missed a day entirely and just sent a reply in the morning.

It was a cause for concern.

But Stacie wasn't being invited over, nor was she in the position to be read in on what Aubrey was working on, so all she could really do was focus on her schoolwork and rehearsals, and hope for the best.

Because she's made the same mistake before, thinking the worst about Aubrey when she was really just doing her job, and as it had become increasingly clear over the tenure of their relationship, Aubrey's dedication to her job – or to anything she had set her mind to focus on – was unrivaled.

As Beca liked to half-heartedly joke, she was still traumatized from their days of being under an ICCAs-obsessed Aubrey Posen.

So Stacie takes the delayed text responses and unanswered calls; the fact that practically everybody but her girlfriend replies or comments on her social media posts.

And it's a random Wednesday afternoon when she catches Flo watching the news feed on her laptop, supposedly doing homework, but the girl was staring at her laptop, riveted.

"What's going on?" Stacie asked, only to be ignored by Flo but answered by Fat Amy, who was reading a textbook in the living room.

"She's been watching that for hours now," Fat Amy started. "It involves a hostile takeover, job losses, and somehow stock prices are up."

Stacie frowned. "What?"

Flo pointed at the screen. "ELA gave their P&L last week, which everyone knew wasn't great, but in America an 'OK' is good enough, and were going to announce job cuts today, with new possible investors, but this morning B&L announced they were going to buy the majority and take over."

"Which is bad for everyone not with BL." Fat Amy added.

Stacie frowned, and glanced at the screen. The company acronyms didn't really help, since she didn't really follow the stock market so she didn't know what any of those were, but something nagged at her, as if the names sounded familiar.

And then the location where the press conference, being given by the ELA and B&L spokespeople, was being held flashed across the screen.

They had made the Bellas put together three separate sets at the last minute and gave rise to the Country Music Awards, but now Stacie truly resented the city: _Nashville_.

She immediately started dialing Aubrey's phone, but she wasn't exactly surprised to hear the busy tone.

Fat Amy noticed her sudden agitation. "What's wrong?"

Stacie pointed at Flo's laptop. "Aubrey's involved in that."

Flo's eyes widened. "Yikes."

"What do you mean?" Fat Amy asked, concerned.

"I mean," Stacie frowned, as her internet call wasn't being pushed through and her messages weren't even being delivered, and looked up at Fat Amy. "I know she's worked with B&L before, and I'm pretty sure ELA is a client. Job cuts are kind of her thing, and- Yes! Hello?"

"Today, of all days?"

"Aubrey?"

"No, because if you're calling for the reason we know you're calling, you would know Aubrey's busy right now."

Stacie frowned. "Kathryn?"

"Fires, Anastasia. Business fires. We're handling it."

"Why do you have Aubrey's phone?"

"Because she's one more call away from throwing it out the window." Kathryn reported. "Look, she can't talk right now – we're not even supposed to, anyway – but I'll make sure she knows you called."

"But—" But Kathryn had already hung up, leaving Stacie confused, frustrated, and just a little seething. "Bitch hung up on me."

"Who?" Fat Amy queried.

"Kathryn." Stacie muttered. At Fat Amy's confused look, she elaborated, "Red hair, this tall, flirts with my girlfriend."

"Ohhh," both Flo and Fat Amy nodded in understanding.

"We don't like her," Fat Amy recalled.

"We really don't," Stacie agreed. Especially if that redheaded liaison was with Aubrey during a time of intense frustration when she could be confided in and not Stacie.

Aubrey didn't call back, only sending a text message later that night about how she won't be free to call or text Stacie for the next few days.

At least there was an 'I love you. New York, I promise.' tacked on, so Stacie knew not all of Aubrey's contacts were sent the same thing.

And she loves the Bellas, who all offer to go to her classes or get her homework if she needs to go to Aubrey, but Stacie couldn't exactly just leave to do that. Because Nashville was clearly off-limits. A phone call to Dan the next day revealed that, yes, Aubrey probably _did_ help orchestrate the takeover and buy-out, but once the deal was done – and since jobs weren't cut as expected, Aubrey probably wouldn't be there anymore. But she wasn't in New York.

And she wasn't in Atlanta, either, so Stacie just had no idea where her girlfriend could be.

Chloe could only offer, "She might go home."

But Aubrey didn't call South Carolina, the place where she grew up, as home anymore. Even if Stacie knew Aubrey's mom and grandparents lived in North Carolina, she didn't have an address.

Sleep didn't come easily, but school was tiring and rehearsals were in full swing, so getting a phone call in the middle of the night just wasn't Stacie's favorite thing.

But she knew of only one person who would call at odd hours of night.

Stacie quickly answered, "Aubrey?"

"Guess again, Annie."

Stacie hated her, so much. "Kathryn."

"Aubrey hasn't called you?"

If this woman was calling to rub it in, Stacie would not be held accountable for her actions. "Are you calling this late just to be mean, or are you really just terrible?"

Ignoring the question, Kathryn responded, "Write this down."

"Why—"

But Kathryn just started dictating a series of numbers, directions, and names, making Stacie scramble for pen and paper – thankfully, she was a college student, so she had plenty of those lying around – and ended up with a weird collection of symbols.

"What is this?"

"Directions. And an address. You're welcome."


	49. Chapter 49

At least the directions Kathryn gave didn't lead to an isolated corn field or a stretch of desert with an odd collection of lumps on the ground; instead Stacie ended up in an idyllic town of white picket fences and large, colonial homes.

Kathryn hadn't told her whose address it was she had given, but the North Carolina address at least gave her two options.

And while a part of Stacie worried that there was a reason why Aubrey hadn't called her herself, or the fact that she seemed to have told Kathryn about her exit strategy and nobody else, Stacie was more concerned over what condition she would find Aubrey in, if Kathryn deemed it appropriate to break Aubrey's confidence and told Stacie where to find her.

She still didn't like the liaison, but Stacie had to concede the fact that Kathryn had given specific enough directions that prevented Stacie or her cab driver from getting lost, and even if admittedly, Stacie had doubted the credibility of an instruction to "turn right one block past the cursed house" – because how can you tell, really – but the oddly-pristine-but-clearly-abandoned home they passed was apt.

In the more affluent part of town where homes were further apart and houses were further from the road, Stacie and her taxi passed a blonde jogger and her dog heading in the other direction, the blonde slowing down and coming to a full stop when her gaze met Stacie's, but not getting the opportunity to let it register, being violently yanked back to task by the Collie-Shepherd mix.

When they reached her destination, Stacie opted to sit on the low wall that lined one side of the driveway heading to the front of the house, and waited patiently.

The dog got to her first, the human-less end of his leash revealing what had happened, and he nearly tackled Stacie into the row of plants behind her. Stacie just barely managed to stay upright, but the dog jumped off of her, circling once, keeping her in his line of sight, clearly getting ready to pounce back.

"George, no! Stop!" Aubrey ordered, but the dog glanced at her briefly, his attack interrupted, and he circled once more.

"No means no, George," Stacie quipped.

Aubrey spared her a quick dry glance before sighing, "George, sit."

The dog suddenly stopped, and did as commanded.

"Yeah, _that's_ not likely." Stacie joked, before standing up to greet the blonde. "Hey, stranger."

Aubrey glanced at her dog one last time before she turned to Stacie, an array of emotions flicking through her expression, before she simply shook her head, and held her hand out to Stacie, pulling her close when Stacie took it.

And if a part of Stacie had wondered how Aubrey would react to having Stacie show up at her family's front door, those concerns faded away with the way Aubrey kissed her, stealing her breath as if she had been drowning, and Stacie was her only source of air.

When they parted, they stayed close, trying to get their breathing back to normal and Stacie pressing their foreheads together, closing her eyes and letting herself just revel in having Aubrey close. Finally, she opened her eyes, and looked up at Aubrey.

Aubrey found her words first. "I'm so glad you're here."

Stacie ignored the obvious question of why it had taken Kathryn to tell her where Aubrey was, taking note of the barely-concealed nervous tension that seemed to emanate from Aubrey, and went straight to the heart of the matter: "What happened?"

"Long story, or short?"

"Let's try short."

"It was a shitty deal."

Stacie had to smile. "A little longer?"

Aubrey smiled faintly. "They were sinking. Badly. The profit-and-loss report they released was heavily sanitized. We gave them options. They wanted B&L to buy in, but not the way we'd set it up to happen. And when they were going to choose their stock dividends over hundreds of jobs, B&L chose to intervene."

"So why have you been in hiding?"

Aubrey chuckled wryly and stepped back, but not moving away too far. "They've been working on this, on and off, for over a year. I've been trying to handle this for the better part of a year. I was dealing with those workers. When they brought in a third party, supposedly to audit, I was the one who told my boss something was wrong. When that deal came through?" She shook her head. "It was a shitty deal, except for the jobs part. But even that's not a long-term remedy. But we did our jobs, and everybody wants to talk to us to dissect what happened."

"Kathryn was there that day."

"Yeah, we," Aubrey sighed. "When the deal went down, we had to leave quickly, we were leaving a VP in charge so nobody could really get her to talk. Kathryn was the extraction team."

"So why…" Stacie motioned around them.

"Right now nobody's going to let me near their executive offices." Aubrey admitted. "I was told to take the rest of the week off, let the flames die down."

"Are you—"

"Gonna get promoted for this?" Aubrey finished. She sighed, and smiled weakly at Stacie. "I don't know. Maybe. This is the kind of thing that could make a career, and…"

What Stacie had actually been about to ask was if Aubrey would be getting fired, and finding out the exact opposite was more likely showed just how much she didn't understand about the nature of Aubrey's job.

Stacie pulled Aubrey back to her, and wrapped her arms around Aubrey. "What happens now?"

"I'm scheduled to do this team-building immersive in the middle of the woods next week, which can't possibly be fun for anyone."

Stacie laughed. "You in the middle of the woods. I'd pay money to see that."

Aubrey rolled her eyes, playfully – if half-heartedly – pushing Stacie away. "I can be outdoorsy."

Stacie let out an indelicate snort of skepticism.

Aubrey let her offense show. "I will have you know, I've been a Girl Scout and taken survivalist classes."

Stacie smiled, and quirked an eyebrow. "Well, I know whose bunk I'm sharing when the apocalypse happens."

"I'm pretty sure Chloe has dibs, but what's your offer?" Aubrey asked.

"Psh Chloe," Stacie waved her hand dismissively. "I can build a rocket."

Aubrey paused, and looked at her curiously. "Really?"

"Well, none of them have really worked so far, but I'm sure I would've figured it out by then." Stacie admitted. "But I can be your Science Girl. Oh, and sex!" Stacie nodded affirmatively to herself. "You get sex, if you keep me sheltered, fed, and clothed."

Aubrey laughed, and gave her a quick kiss. "Good deal."

Stacie grinned triumphantly, and pulled Aubrey close to seal the deal with a more thorough kiss. She's not sure if they just miss each other, or if she's responding to Aubrey, trying to calm Aubrey's obvious surplus of energy, but the kiss escalates to something not quite appropriate with the dog just a few feet away or for the front lawn and driveway of Aubrey's grandparents' home. And it's that thought that had Stacie breaking the kiss, but continuing to meet Aubrey's lips in gentle pecks. That is, until an odd thought occurred to her, and Stacie ventured, "So… this retreat, are you gonna be all park ranger hot?"

"Park ranger hot?" Aubrey repeated blankly.

"You know," Stacie shrugged, "In khakis, or whatever it is park rangers wear."

Aubrey gave her a confused look. "It's a _corporate retreat_. There'll be mosquitoes and mud and crappy wifi; there will be no _khaki_."

Stacie pouted. "Then what's the point?"

Whatever Aubrey was about to say got lost when her dog abruptly sat up, barking twice before he ran to the side of the house.

Stacie glanced at Aubrey curiously, intrigued by the weird behavior.

"My grandma's at her garden." Aubrey informed her. She bit her lip, because there was a reason why she kept busy and went out on early morning runs with George since she had arrived in North Carolina, and having that interrupted, and being reminded that she hasn't seen or touched or felt Stacie in several weeks, was not helping the part of her that hasn't calmed down since word came down that B&L were going to buy a majority into ELA, their White Knight offer drastically changing into a Grey Knight maneuver.

The fact that Stacie hadn't stopped touching her since their kiss of greeting wasn't really helping.

Stacie, who had asked if Aubrey's grandparents would be okay with their sudden guest and been left with her inquiry unanswered, fell silent, and took note of the way Aubrey's eyes became noticeably darker and more green.

She was already nodding before Aubrey could finish asking, "Do you want to go for a drive?"

They end up on a bluff overlooking a nearby creek, the car Aubrey had taken from her grandparents' garage providing enough space in the back seat for what they wanted to accomplish.

And Stacie found herself with some insight regarding Aubrey's sexual past, if she dealt with the certain conditions and situations related to her job through physical exertion. She belatedly realized that while Aubrey's gag reflex was unfortunate (and gross), it had at least been an outlet for her tension and anxiety, and having had that conditioned out of Aubrey left the girl without a way to release that excess energy.

Even if Stacie's first real taste of Aubrey's new form of exertion happened in a car at a place local teenagers go to and accomplish the same thing they had just done.

And it's that thought that has Stacie trying – and failing – to stifle her laughter, giggling into the kiss she and Aubrey shared.

Aubrey pulled back to frown at her girlfriend. "Really?"

"You know, I think I've watched this CW episode before," Stacie joked, placing her hand on the back of Aubrey's neck to try and pull her close, but Aubrey resisted.

"You really need to stop comparing my life to The CW," Aubrey grumbled.

Stacie chuckled, undeterred. "Hate to ask, but how do you even know about this place, Miss I-lost-my-virginity-to-my-high-school-boyfriend?"

Aubrey groaned. "Really?"

"Color me intrigued." Stacie replied candidly, now decidedly more curious than ever.

"We broke up for the summer. I met someone while I was on a break here." Aubrey answered flatly.

Stacie broke into a wide grin. "Did you guys break up over the summer hiatus and get back together when the fall season started? Was there drama? Did you get back together for prom?"

"Stacie."

"Did he move to your hometown and cause drama for sweeps?"

Aubrey glared at her, unamused. "Seriously, stop."

"Well, stop making it easy!" Stacie laughed.

"You suck so hard right now." Aubrey told her, pulling away to reach over to the front seat where her shirt had landed when Stacie had pulled it off.

Stacie sighed in the face of such exasperation and annoyance, and sat up, tracing Aubrey's shoulder with a line of kisses until she felt Aubrey's annoyance melt enough for the older girl to turn her head and meet Stacie's lips with her own.

Stacie playfully nipped at Aubrey's pouty lower lip. "Baby?"

Aubrey only mumbled a response, even as she allowed Stacie to kiss her pout away, parting her lips against Stacie's.

"You need to get a car, so we can do this more often."

"I have an apartment," Aubrey reminded dryly, handing Stacie her shirt while trying to maneuver into a position to pull her shorts back on; confirming her long-standing suspicion that disrobing in the confines of a car was a whole lot easier than putting clothes back on. It probably didn't help that she paused the process to enjoy Stacie's lips on her skin." _And_ you have a roommate who's willing to be kicked out; we shouldn't need a car."

At the reminder of her roommate, Stacie paused, freezing in her actions.

Aubrey noticed, and turned to face her, immediately concerned. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"You're gonna be so mad." Stacie started, "And I don't know if I should…"

Aubrey frowned when Stacie just let her voice drift off, and tried to figure out what Stacie would need to tell her that would come with such a disclaimer. She thought back to what they had just been talking about, and made a few logical leaps. "Chloe's not graduating with Denise, is she?"

Stacie shook her head.

Aubrey groaned, and there was a moment wherein Stacie was worried Aubrey would let the invectives fly, but she almost immediately sighed in resignation. "If her parents want to keep spending for another year in college, I don't really have a leg to stand on."

"You could try talking to her," Stacie suggested.

Aubrey sighed. "And tell her what?"

"I don't know," Stacie shrugged. "You're a junior executive in a Fortune 500 company making billion-dollar deals; I'm sure you can think of something."

Aubrey made a face. "I also deal with losses and sometimes face people in picket lines that think I'm a heartless, soul-sucking demon."

"Maybe you don't lead with that."

"Funny."

Stacie smiled faintly, and kissed her softly. "And I don't think you're heartless."

Aubrey smiled wryly. "So just the soul-sucking, then?"

"Well," Stacie shrugged, giving her one last quick kiss before turning to put on her clothes. "I'd give you mine."

Aubrey startled, and arched an eyebrow at Stacie, who visibly paused, but instantly threw a salacious grin at Aubrey over her shoulder.

"I mean, I already let you suck other things," Stacie quipped, smoothly gliding past the potential awkwardness of what she'd previously said, even as she inwardly wondered where the hell that declaration had come from. She abandoned the task of getting dressed to move over and straddle Aubrey's lap, pushing the other girl back against the seats. "Now, if I remember correctly, you made a promise about making it up to me about all the sex I've been missing."

Aubrey didn't always keep her promises, especially lately, but Stacie was intent on making sure she kept that one.

They got back to the house a lot later than originally expected, and upon entering the driveway, Aubrey audibly cursed at the sight of another car already there. At Stacie's curious glance, Aubrey explained, "My mom's here."

If there was ever a moment to be thankful that they had somehow managed to avoid marking each other from their previous activities, it would be at that very second.

Stacie took a cursory look over Aubrey, making sure she hadn't left any visible marks on Aubrey, before she checked the mirror to examine herself.

Aubrey parked the car, and smirked over at her. "And here you were, complaining we kept it clean."

"Why is your mom here?"

"She just lives downtown and her daughter's here," Aubrey reminded. "And my grandmother makes the best breakfast." She removed her seatbelt, and looked at Stacie. "Ready?"

"I'd just like to remind you that I warned you when _you_ went to meet my mom." Stacie reminded, following Aubrey's lead and stepping out of the car.

"You negotiated me meeting your mom so we can have a sleepover," Aubrey recalled, meeting Stacie at her side of the car. "Besides, you took this trip knowing – or maybe just suspecting – just where you were going; you had to know this was going to happen."

Stacie pouted at her. "Why are you terrible?"

"I love you, too." Aubrey laughed. "Anyway, you already met George, and he's the hardest sell. Come on."

After a quick stop to drop off Stacie's things and to clean up and take another cursory examination for evidence of their morning activities, they went off to introduce Stacie to Aubrey's mother and grandparents. Aubrey's family were all still in the dining room, but the dishes had been put away, Aubrey's grandfather stood by the sink washing them while her mother and grandmother sat at the dining table talking. The two older women stopped when they noticed Aubrey enter.

"Hi, honey." Her mom greeted, smiling at her. "You look better."

Her grandmother's attention, however, was on the girl hanging back as much as possible while still holding Aubrey's hand. "Although we can probably presume why."

"Mother." Mrs. Posen admonished, before turning and smiling at Stacie as she stood up. "You must be Stacie."

"Hi," Stacie greeted, dropping Aubrey's hand and extending her hand to the older Posen woman. "It's nice to meet you."

"Oh, she's lovely," Aubrey's grandmother gushed. She glanced over at Aubrey. "And _you_ missed breakfast."

"I wanted to show her the town," Aubrey replied.

"Mmhmm," her grandmother said skeptically. "Get your breakfast, that dog of yours has been trying to get to it."

Aubrey glanced at Stacie, who had been dragged to a chair by her mother, and only smiled back when Stacie shot her a look, startled by the attention and decidedly warm reception she was receiving from Aubrey's mother and grandmother.

"Don't give George bacon," her grandfather warned, as Aubrey started to put together two plates for herself and Stacie.

Aubrey looked down at the dog at her feet, and pouted in return to the sad look he was giving her.

"This girl came all this way just to see you; you really left her with your mom and grandmother, Bree?"

Aubrey chuckled. "She can hold her own."

Her grandfather shook his head at her, but glanced briefly in the direction of the dining table before turning back to Aubrey. "You look happy."

It was a simple observation, the inherent commentary expressed in the simple statement, but there was no denying just how much Aubrey took it to heart, and she grinned brightly at him.


	50. Chapter 50

Given a split-second of reprieve from the attentions of Aubrey's mother and grandmother, Stacie took the opportunity to scan the kitchen for her girlfriend, and found Aubrey standing by the stove, preparing two plates of food. Stacie allowed herself a moment to regard Aubrey, who had one plate in her hand and the other balancing on her arm, her stance relaxed, as if she did this all the time.

Aubrey and her grandfather were talking, both pointedly ignoring the dog near their feet, trying to get either one's attention, and it should have been an endearing sight.

Instead, all Stacie could think was the fact that Aubrey was loitering by the kitchen counter with her grandfather, leaving Stacie to her own devices in dealing with the close scrutiny of Aubrey's mother and the amused queries of her grandmother.

When Stacie noticed Aubrey finally – _finally_ – turn towards the dining table, plates in hand, she jumped out of her seat and rushed to Aubrey, under the guise of helping the older girl. When she got close, she hissed at Aubrey, "What the fu— _hell_ took you so long?"

"I miss you too?" Aubrey said slowly, bemused, wondering if Stacie was aware she'd basically just traded in a curse word for a different, albeit less harsh, one.

"You left me alone with them!"

Aubrey paused, confused at the vehemence in Stacie's tone, and hazarded: "Are they not being nice to you?"

"They _are_ being nice!" Stacie hissed. "It's weird!"

Aubrey gave her another confused glance, and handed her a plate, " _You're_ weird."

"Aubrey!"

"Stacie, relax. They already like you."

"They don't know me!"

Aubrey gave her a serious look. "Do you trust me?"

"Not so much right now, no."

Aubrey shook her head, and taking hold of Stacie's free hand, pulled her back towards the table.

"Aubrey," her mother started, drawing Aubrey's attention as soon as they returned to the table, and much to Stacie's relief, "Your company's still in the news today."

Aubrey hummed noncommittally.

"I think you weren't being very forthcoming about the extent of the job in Nashville," she continued.

Aubrey glanced at her mother. "I have a whole file just on my non-disclosure contracts, mom. You know I can't talk about it, even to my mother."

"Well, your mother worries."

"And your grandmother," the oldest woman at the table piped in, giving Aubrey a pointed look.

Aubrey's mother glanced at Stacie. "Has she told you anything?"

Stacie briefly glanced at Aubrey, because Aubrey _had_ , and she didn't know how much of it she'd already told her family. She turned back to answer Aubrey's mom. "Not much?"

"There's nothing more to tell," Aubrey interrupted. "I told you: the team and I were told to lay low after the takeover; I have to be in the area next week, so I decided to skip on going to New York."

"And her girlfriend's here," her grandfather added from his place by the sink.

Stacie could feel her cheeks flame, and she kept her head down, as if the waffles, eggs and bacon on her plate were the most fascinating things she'd ever come across.

And, okay, maybe Aubrey's grandmother's homemade waffles were pretty awesome; totally the reason why she was shoveling forkfuls into her mouth, and not because she didn't want to be part of the conversation. If Aubrey wanted to play down the situation to her family, well, Stacie wasn't going to say differently.

"Ah, yes," Aubrey's grandmother noted, glancing at the lone brunette at the table. "You didn't tell us she was coming, Aubrey. I would have prepared something special."

Stacie almost choked, realizing that Aubrey's grandmother was implying the best homemade waffles she'd ever encountered wasn't considered 'special'. And the fact that Aubrey's grandmother was apparently pretty good at questioning Aubrey. She glanced at Aubrey, who glanced briefly at her as she handed her a glass of water.

"It was a spur of the moment thing," Aubrey said hastily, ignoring Stacie's leg nudging hers under the table. She paused, and glanced curiously at Stacie. "She's supposed to be in class."

"We're doing library work before finals."

"And in rehearsals."

"I wanted to see you." Stacie replied, holding Aubrey's gaze evenly.

Something in Aubrey's gaze gentled, and her lips curled slightly into a smile as she acknowledged Stacie's statement and the underlying sentiment that lined her words. Aubrey nodded slightly, and turned back to her family. "I wasn't sure she could make the trip."

Aubrey's mother nodded in understanding, but Stacie noticed that her grandmother wasn't as easily convinced, but nodded along anyway.

In fact, as the morning went on, Stacie noticed that Aubrey and her mother, while unquestionably fond and familiar, held a modicum of cordiality in their interaction; it wasn't quite formal, but Stacie could sense that both women were careful and measured in how they spoke with each other. Aubrey's mother obviously wanted to know more, and she was undeniably warm and receptive towards Stacie, but she was careful not to prod too much, not to ask too many questions. In return, Aubrey willingly answered any questions her mother might have, but she was also careful not to provide more than the necessary information, not to disclose anything beyond the question asked.

It wasn't a rare relationship between parents and their children, and Stacie had seen similar interactions among her friends and their parents, and it shouldn't have been something she would have paid particular attention to except for the fact that it contrasted sharply with Aubrey's interactions with her grandparents.

She still wasn't any more forthcoming with information, but she seemed to be genuinely apologetic with her grandparents when she refused to share details or information about her job or the reason why she was in North Carolina.

But she tried a little harder to be as informative as she could when the questions revolved around Stacie.

It probably helped that nobody asked the question of how their relationship started.

When they were finally released from the inquisition, Aubrey led Stacie out to the backyard, with George in tow, and headed to a shaded part of the garden where they could sit down on a garden bench. Once they were seated, George sniffed Aubrey's hand, as if looking for snacks, and finding none, huffed off to another part of the garden, jumping onto another bench and lying down.

Smiling her amusement, Aubrey glanced at Stacie, who instead of witnessing how awesome her dog was, eyed the door to the house worriedly. "They're not going to follow us out here."

"You don't know that."

"They just released us from their round of questioning. They're not going to try anything again so soon." Aubrey noted.

Stacie glanced at her, then at the house, and finally seemed to relent, leaning back on the bench and rolling her head to the side to study Aubrey. "So… your family's nice."

"I told you."

"But why?"

Aubrey glanced at her, confused by the question.

"I mean," Stacie laughed softly, "I would've thought your grandparents wouldn't like their granddaughter being gay, or whatever."

"My grandparents just want me to be happy." Aubrey replied simply, shrugging.

The implication was that _Stacie_ made Aubrey happy, and Stacie was momentarily distracted, reveling in the internal fluttering that the thought caused, while also wondering if this was the kind of feeling that people considered corny, maybe cheesy.

Still, though, she insisted on her line of questioning. "I didn't show up the last time I was supposed to meet them." Stacie asserted.

"And you're the only one I've ever asked to come over to meet them." Aubrey explained. "That kind of overrules anything else."

"And your mom?"

"My mom?"

"Doesn't she mind the whole dating-a-girl thing?" Stacie questioned.

"My mom and I…" Aubrey paused, searching for the right words for what she wanted to say. "We have an agreement."

Stacie quirked an eyebrow.

"We've never been very close, at least not the way you and your mom are." Aubrey shared. "We can talk and be in the same room, but we don't, like, talk about the STD test I had to take recently."

Stacie let out a short laugh, because she doubted a lot of parents ever wanted to hear about their children needing to take an STD test – her mom just worked in healthcare and as a consequence knew other people in healthcare in their home district – but this was about Aubrey and her relationship with her living parent, so she guessed, "Because of your dad?"

"And we're too alike and too different in conflicting ways," Aubrey nodded in confirmation. "I guess we both always thought he'd always be around, so we never really tried to fix that. And then he died, and we both had to figure out what that meant for us." She glanced at the house briefly, before turning back to Stacie. "We're both out of our depth, being this new two-person family unit, so it's easier when my grandparents are around."

"She doesn't like your job." Stacie surmised.

"No," Aubrey laughed, shaking her head. "She really doesn't."

"Why?"

"Because it caters too much to the part of me that's my dad." Aubrey admitted.

"The competition?"

"That. And the fact that it's easy to disappear into the workload." Aubrey replied. "She doesn't like that the non-disclosures keep me from talking to her about it, so there's so much she doesn't know."

"And the dating-a-girl thing?" Stacie prodded.

Aubrey smiled weakly, because that was the heart of the matter, wasn't it? "Let's put it this way: before my dad died? Her reaction would have been a lot more mixed than welcoming you to the dining table."

It wasn't a direct answer, but still understanding dawned on Stacie. "She doesn't want to rock the boat."

"I've already proven I can choose to leave if I wanted to." Aubrey nodded. "So she tries harder."

"She seemed to like me, though." Stacie admitted. "Was that an act?"

"No," Aubrey shook her head. "She's had time to think about it, she's dealt with whatever misgivings she may have. And she was raised right: she would have ignored you if she didn't like you."

"Is that how it is?"

"Yeah."

Stacie tilted her head to the side, and queried, "When did you tell her about me?"

"When I told her why I wouldn't be spending Christmas with her here." Aubrey provided a simple answer, shrugging.

"You skipped Christmas to be with me, and you seriously think she likes me?" Stacie asked sharply.

"She knew it was important to me."

Stacie paused, because she was seriously going to mount Aubrey then and there if she kept on saying such simple things that went straight to her heart, and she doubted Aubrey's family was going to appreciate it. So she kept her mouth shut, even as a small smile played upon her lips.

There was a momentary lull in conversation as Stacie let Aubrey's answers sink in. While she was definitely glad that Aubrey's family had reasonably welcomed her with open arms, there was still the matter of how their meeting came to be. Stacie glanced at Aubrey. "Kathryn called me."

"Ah." Aubrey nodded, not minding the shift in conversation, but also finally enlightened as to how Stacie had found her way to her grandparents' front door. "I figured she might." At Stacie's arched eyebrow, she expounded, "She said she would."

Stacie frowned. "Why didn't it come from you? Why did it take for her to tell me where you were?"

Aubrey quirked her lips. "You're supposed to be in school."

"Aubrey."

Aubrey sighed, and leaned back on the bench. She looked up at the tree above them, as if answers could be found there. Finally, she turned back to Stacie. "I was going to drop by tomorrow."

Stacie arched an eyebrow.

"I just needed these two days off, because I didn't want to talk about Nashville, and this is the place where nobody was going to push." Aubrey explained. "Because I love you, and the Bellas, but I would have wanted to tell you everything the night it went down, and the Bellas treat everything like it's their business."

"But Kathryn knew where you were."

"She was the extraction team." Aubrey reminded. "She's nobody to B&L, she was never at the table for any of the discussions. She's the only one who knows where everyone who was on the team in Nashville are."

"So why did it take her calling me for me to find out where you are?" Stacie asked.

"Because she was in Chicago."

For the second time in so many minutes, Aubrey's answer confounded Stacie. "What does that mean?"

Aubrey hesitated, unsure if she could explain what she needed to without bringing up old wounds to Stacie, but there was no way around it. "She was there. Last time. When my career took a turn."

Stacie furrowed her brow, still confused. "In Chicago?"

Aubrey sighed. "When I was dating that girl."

 _Oh._

"Oh." Stacie's response was short, but expressed her reticence to continue her line of questioning.

But needs must.

"Why would that matter?" Stacie queried.

"Because this is one of the reasons why we broke up." Aubrey explained. She let out a breath, glancing at Stacie, before continuing. "We weren't friends in Chicago. But _they_ were. So she knows how badly I can screw up a relationship, even without meaning to. And she knows how I get when I'm dealing with work."

Stacie was momentarily distracted by the thought of: "I thought you weren't friends?"

"What?"

"You and Kathryn. You said you're not friends."

"We're not."

"Okay, but intervening like this isn't something people who aren't friends do." Stacie pointed out.

Aubrey looked down before she looked back up at Stacie, chuckling softly. "I guess I'm gonna have to change that, huh?"

"Or you can keep her hanging, it's fine." Stacie said quickly.

Aubrey shook her head. "Because you won't stop giving her a hard time even after this good deed?"

Stacie gave her a dry look, slightly affronted. "Would I do that?"

Aubrey returned her look with a wry one. "You really want me to answer that?"

Stacie faltered, knowing full well Aubrey was referring to her previous – and likely to be continued – insinuations regarding Aubrey and _liaising_ , and pouted. "Shut up."

Aubrey smiled, amused.

Stacie settled in her seat, and glanced out at the garden. She felt Aubrey gazing at her, but kept her own gaze away from Aubrey. Summer was yet to start, but she'd heard about summer in the South, and despite their place in the shade she could feel the heat and humidity already starting to make itself known. Still, though, there was a tranquility in their surroundings that she could really appreciate. Stacie smiled softly as her gaze fell upon the dozing George, and glancing down briefly so she could twine her fingers with Aubrey's, she admitted, "I like it here."

"Good."

Stacie glanced up at her, and Aubrey smiled, adding: "I like you here."


	51. Chapter 51

"You know," Stacie said, examining the interior of the car briefly before turning to Aubrey, "I don't think I've mentioned this, but you really should have told me your dog sleeps on your bed."

Aubrey smiled weakly. "I thought you would've noticed he has an affinity for furniture."

Stacie rolled her eyes, and glanced out the car as she declared, "If we get a pet, it's not allowed on our bed."

When there was no forthcoming response from Aubrey, Stacie turned face her and found the blonde looking at her with a pensive expression. Perplexed as to what made Aubrey so deep in thought, she questioned: "What?"

Aubrey shook her head dismissively, and smiled at her. "No pets, got it."

"No pets _on beds_ ," Stacie hastily corrected. "Yes pets. Yay pets. I love all the pets. I want all the pets."

"This is noted," Aubrey laughed. She pointed to something outside of the windshield. "I hate to sound like your mom, but if you want a pet you're gonna have to get on that bus and go back to school."

Stacie glanced out at the indicated bus, checking the time of its departure and glancing back at Aubrey. They have been at the bus station for some time already, even after a lengthy detour en route to the station for their goodbyes, but still neither of them were willing or felt inclined to separate just yet, though Stacie had a class early the next day and Aubrey had to pack her things for the company retreat.

"Why can't you drive me to Barden?" Stacie asked.

"It's kind of pointless to go all the way to Atlanta and then head back north," Aubrey pointed out. "And honestly I'm not sure I trust you in this car for any length of time."

Stacie glared at her. "I like cars."

"I can tell." Aubrey nodded. She paused, and turned to Stacie in curiosity. "Is it the engineering of an internal combustion engine, or is it because of the speed and power of any motor vehicle?"

"Don't make fun."

"Babe, you _really_ like cars," Aubrey commented lightly. "It's cute, really, but it's also… well, a little disconcerting, actually."

Stacie gave her a dry look. "I hope you enjoyed the sex we're never having again."

"What, in a car?" Aubrey quipped, and then yelped when Stacie lightly punched her shoulder. She couldn't help but laugh and query, "So what is it about you and cars? Is it autoerotic?"

"As long as it's not carjacking," Stacie retorted. "You suck so hard right now."

Aubrey smiled at her, her previous amusement and teasing fading as she regarded Stacie. "I'm glad you came."

Stacie shot her a look.

"I'm glad you showed up?" Aubrey amended, understanding the possible misinterpretation of her statement and trying hard not to laugh. "And I'm sorry Kathryn had to call you."

Stacie reached over, and took Aubrey's hand in her own. "Next time, _you call me_."

"I'm kind of hoping there won't be a next time," Aubrey admitted.

"Yeah? And how likely is that?" Stacie questioned.

Aubrey nodded in acknowledgment of the mild accusation, since they both knew the truth of the matter. "Not very, but a girl can hope."

Stacie smiled, and shook her head. "Maybe you should consider other jobs."

"Not a lot of jobs would pay me to do what I do." Aubrey pointed out.

Stacie shrugged. "So maybe it shouldn't be about the money."

Aubrey glanced at her, a little suspicious. "Why do you sound like my mom right now?"

"Babe, that's gross." Stacie remarked flatly. "And you started it."

"Gross." Aubrey echoed Stacie's observation.

"I'm just saying," Stacie asserted, gliding past the awkwardness, "I haven't heard you talking about your job like you enjoy it since you got kinda-promoted. You've been super stressed out, and honestly, you're like the last person who needs the extra anxiety in your life. Especially since your job also keeps you away from your awesome source of stress relief." At that last part, she pointed at herself, as if Aubrey needed that clarified.

Aubrey conceded Stacie's point, and she allowed, "Well, let's find out what the fall out is from Nashville, right? I either get promoted or they keep me at a desk for the time being, I might not even need to give it too much thought."

"But first, you're gonna go have fun in the woods," Stacie agreed.

"Stacie, seriously, I don't know how much camping you've done in your life, but mud and mosquitoes." Aubrey reminded. "There is no 'fun' to be had."

"Find your fun." Stacie replied. She noticed a man in his bus driver uniform approach the bus she and Aubrey were watching, consulting his clipboard, and she sighed. "Looks like I'm up." She leaned over, and gave Aubrey a kiss. "Have fun at your retreat."

"Mud and mosquitoes." Aubrey reiterated.

"Love you." Stacie replied, before reluctantly pulling away to grab her bag and left the car. Before she closed the door, however, she turned back to Aubrey. "Just so we're clear, this is _your_ car, right? We haven't been defiling your grandparents' car?"

"You want me to lie to you right now?"

"Aubrey!"

Aubrey laughed. "It's my car. And am I now going to have to worry you're dating me for my car?'

"I don't love you that much." Stacie retorted. She paused, and then obliged, "It _is_ a nice car, though." She winked at Aubrey and purred, " _Very_ nice."

"Don't perv on my car." Aubrey requested, and pointed at the bus. "Get on your bus, nerd."

Stacie laughed, and waved goodbye. "See you at the ICCAs!"

The ICCA Finals, which was fast approaching and only Chloe seemed to be hyper-focused on, only served to reinforce Stacie's suspicion that the redhead was not feeling particularly inclined to graduate any time soon. But at least most of the finalists were the same names they had encountered in previous years, and all a cappella watchers still held the Bellas as clear favorites, with the Treblemakers a distant second; not to mention that with Beca's new lease on music influences and this being their third year as a group making it to the finals, they were pretty confident as a team on their chances of replicating their past success.

"Stacie," Fat Amy called one afternoon, when Stacie entered the kitchen to get something to drink, and smiled at Stacie when Stacie turned to join the brainstorming session a handful of Bellas were having at their dining table. "Do you have requests?"

Stacie opened her mouth to answer, but then shut it closed, pausing, unsure of what that question was about.

"We are planning our summer tour," Flo explained.

Stacie nodded in understanding, as they had always included their own preferred performances in addition to the performance dates they were obligated to include as ICCA champions. If they lost – which Stacie doubted, but stranger things have happened – then they could remedy their bruised egos with performances to adoring fans.

And by "adoring fans" that meant stops in their home states and perform for friends and family, but she digressed.

"Where's Aubrey going to be at this summer?" Cynthia Rose queried.

"Who knows." Stacie replied, shaking her head. "She can come to me."

A handful of the girls snorted their amusement, and Fat Amy mused, "That's what she said."

Stacie rolled her eyes before she glanced over her friend's shoulder at the list. After a moment of reading, she frowned. "Those are a lot of stops."

"Chloe said she doesn't want a repeat of what happened two years ago." Jessica explained. At Stacie's confused look, she expounded, "With Aubrey graduating and taking a job right after graduation, missing the tour and stuff. She figures we'll do this now, since Denise is the only one graduating this year."

Oh. Right. Stacie hesitated, and subtly glanced around the room for Denise, and then wondering where their absent teammate was. She knew Denise had previously sent Aubrey her resumé, but after that she'd been kept out of the loop regarding that interaction. And, honestly, Stacie tried to avoid the topic, careful not to know too much about it so she wouldn't have to lie to any of the other Barden Bellas, particularly Chloe.

"Those aren't the final stops, though," Jessica quickly added, when Stacie didn't acknowledge what she'd said right away. "Since Ashley has an internship she's already promised to do and I have that summer job at home."

But Stacie had a feeling that with Chloe insistent on an honest-to-goodness tour, and Beca probably inevitably backing her up – not to mention Fat Amy already complying with making an extended list of possible tour stops, they were probably in for an exhausting summer tour.

So she was going to have to figure out new and inventive ways to convince Aubrey to make time so they could at least spend some of the Barden summer break together. Because while she loved hanging out with the Bellas, she also lived with them throughout the school year, and if things continued the way they were going, who really knew when she'd be able to have time to really spend the summer with Aubrey.

Aubrey, who had taken all of an hour into her first day at her retreat before sending Stacie a series of text messages complaining about mud, mosquitoes, and the fact that the team she had been assigned to had elected her as their leader almost immediately.

And the fact that she had been wrong about one factor regarding the retreat: instead of bad internet service, they were, instead, dealt with no connection at all.

Stacie knew the retreat was supposed to last a whole week, but considering the trend in the messages Aubrey was sending her – including one only mildly cursing, obviously relieved there was running water and electricity in the site – then Stacie was a little worried over the state her girlfriend (her teammates, and whomever was in charge of the retreat) would be in by the end of said week.

At least, there was decent cellular reception.

"What's the damage?" Stacie joked, one night when Aubrey called her.

"We're not doing trust exercises anymore, so things are looking up." Aubrey grumbled.

"That's a real thing, huh?"

Aubrey sighed. "Yes. But whoever put together this program has obviously never worked with our kind of team because- Is that a spider?"

On instinct, Stacie ducked and glanced behind her, but then realized she and Aubrey weren't on video, which made her ask: "What?"

"Just a sec." Aubrey told her, before she instructed someone on her end of the call not to move.

Stacie waited as she heard Aubrey's instruction to be greeted with chaos and pandemonium – apparently even midlevel corporate managers freaked out in the presence of a spider – before she heard Aubrey yell at everyone to stop and shut up.

Followed by a lengthy silence, ending when someone yelled: "Ow! What the fuck, assholes?"

"Hey." Aubrey greeted back into the phone.

"Do I want to know?" Stacie asked, but already laughing.

"Spider."

"You hit that guy?"

Aubrey chuckled. "Bunch of us did."

"Was the yelling necessary?"

"Maybe."

Stacie exhaled loudly. "You know what your yelling does to me."

"We really need to talk about your weird kinks, Stacie Conrad." Aubrey mused.

Stacie paused, and offered in warning, "Are you sure? Because I don't mind, we haven't done the phone sex thing in a while, and don't get me wrong, knowing you want to talk dirty with people around's kind of hot, but I thought you and your team were sharing a cabin."

A pause, this time on Aubrey's end, and then Aubrey slowly admitted, "I was talking in general, but I think we're including this in your list of weird kinks."

"I thought we've established I'm plenty–" Stacie groaned. "Shut up."

"It's cute."

"It's good you think so, since I'm gonna have to try and draw it out and prolong the slow reveal." Stacie retorted. "You're gonna have to keep dating me for a while, Posen."

"You know, I think I'd like that."

Stacie smiled. She settled on her seat at the front steps of the house, enjoying the light breeze she knew would be soon be forgotten, when the Atlanta summer set in. "So what makes you think your camp counselor's never worked with a bunch of upstart junior executives for an international conglomerate?"

"The fact that this is supposed to encourage us to work on our teamwork skills but no idea how to do that when we're all from different departments and offices is a glaring factor," Aubrey sighed.

Stacie frowned. "Yeah, that doesn't make sense."

"It's easy to encourage being a team when you work together and see each other every day," Aubrey pointed out. "What we have to do is a little harder."

"So try to make it work with how they do it."

"Stacie, not all teams work the same way."

"So how does your work?"

"Well, for one thing, when you work at our level, it's not about everybody getting along, it's about getting the job done."

"Cutthroat." Stacie observed.

"Yeah, but that's what makes us good at what we do." Aubrey stated.

"Can't you talk to your camp counselor?"

"You're really gonna call them that?"

"Yes." Stacie responded flatly.

"I don't know. Everybody's just happy to be out of the office."

"Including you?" Stacie asked. "Is there anything about the retreat that you even like?"

"The outdoors are nice." Aubrey conceded. After a beat, she added, "Although a part of that might be the fact that we all know our lives is nothing but cubicles and computer screens if we weren't here."

Stacie rolled her eyes. "Enjoy the great outdoors, Aubrey. Run with wolves, or whatever. Eat some s'mores."

"Fine." Aubrey let out a long-suffering sigh. "But what about you? What are you and the Bellas up to?"

"Planning the summer tour."

"Fun."

"Chloe has it in her head we should do a big one this year." Stacie told her.

"Because you're graduating next year?" Aubrey surmised.

Stacie paused, and thought – not for the first time – that she had no idea how Aubrey and Chloe could be so different and at the same time be so alike. "Yes."

"Send me a postcard, I guess?"

Stacie rolled her eyes, because Aubrey could be the worst at flirtation. "Let me tell you where we want to make stops."

"You know I probably won't make it to any of your stops, right?"

"Shut up and pay attention."

"Okay."

It was a lot like the early stages of their relationship, when Aubrey had a vague idea of the places she would be traveling to and the two of them making arrangements to meet; except there was a lot less subterfuge and just an honest hope for them to possibly spend some time together.

But Stacie knew the deal, and she knew that if any of Aubrey's predictions were true, then Aubrey would either be promoted, which would make the nature of her job more busy than it already was, or she would be concentrating on areas far from the southeastern USA, since what had happened in Nashville had made headlines. And Stacie understood, from what Aubrey had told her, that the following weeks would be hectic and that she would be swamped at work, the retreat possibly the last time Aubrey would be in the southeast region for the next few weeks.

So it was a source of great confusion and perplexity when she woke up one morning and found Aubrey sleeping on Chloe's bed.


	52. Chapter 52

"Good morning," Chloe greeted brightly, entering the room, two cups of coffee in her hands. She glanced at the still-sleeping blonde on her bed, shrugged, and offered the extra cup to Stacie. "Two sugars?"

Why Chloe was acting like Aubrey slept on her bed all the time, Stacie had no idea, but she was grateful for the coffee and the dose of caffeine she felt she needed at the moment. Stacie took the cup, but she kept her gaze on Aubrey. "Why…"

Chloe didn't even need to hear the rest of the question. "I don't know, either. But she showed up the same time Fat Amy was coming home, and I was up anyway, so I let her stay here."

"I'm sorry you slept on the couch."

Chloe waved the apology off dismissively. "I didn't sleep on the couch."

Stacie frowned at her.

"It's not the first time me and Aubrey have shared a bed, you have to know that," Chloe pointed out.

Stacie _did_ know that, but that still didn't mean she was happy with it. She pouted and looked away petulantly. "Why couldn't she stay on my bed?"

"Well, it's…" Chloe let her voice drift off, making Stacie look up to glance inquiringly at her roommate.

"What?"

Chloe bit her lip, torn between her concern for Aubrey and what she obviously found amusing, until her amusement won out. "You kind of kept kicking her out."

Stacie looked affronted, and Chloe shook her head. "Don't even. We tried to wake you and everything. You wouldn't even let her sit, and kept insisting that you had a girlfriend."

Stacie's frown deepened, and turned back to studying said girlfriend. "Why is she here?"

"According to Amy, when she asked Aubrey just said she needed to see you." Chloe shrugged. "I tried asking, but she just keeps saying she did something stupid."

Stacie's eyes widened, and she looked at Chloe with alarm, but Chloe shook her head quickly in reassurance.

"It sounds bad, but I don't think she would've tried crawling into bed with you if it was about you."

Stacie conceded that point. She paused, realizing something, and frowned at Chloe, who only attended the least possible number of classes and fixed her schedule to ensure her classes started late in the morning or the afternoon. "You're up early."

"I have a meeting." Chloe shrugged. When she didn't offer more information, Stacie gave her a more expectant look, making the redhead admit, "My professor wants to discuss my options."

Realizing Chloe wasn't going to offer more information, Stacie nodded. "Will you be back soon?"

Chloe briefly glanced at Aubrey before turning back to Stacie. "Probably not. I have to check our arrangements for New York. You're staying with us at the hotel?"

"Yeah, we should probably all stick together before the ICCAs." Stacie nodded, not mentioning the fact that she had checked the distance between Aubrey's apartment and the Lincoln Center before deciding that it would just be too inconvenient to be apart from the rest of the Bellas while they had to follow a schedule for rehearsals and meet-and-greets as the reigning champions.

Chloe had to laugh, and admit, "I figured since we know what Aubrey's like before competition you'd choose something more relaxed."

That, Stacie had to admit, had been a contributing factor, but she only smiled at Chloe to confirm as much.

Chloe nodded briefly. "Okay, I gotta go. Call me if you need anything."

"I will."

Chloe pointed at Aubrey. "And tell her that next time you kick her out of bed, she's taking the couch."

Stacie nodded, but didn't agree, since there was something about Chloe's statement that didn't quite sit right with her, and she didn't want to say anything that might highlight the very thing she wasn't sure bothered her so much.

Once Chloe had closed the door behind her, Stacie pursed her lips, a part of her wanting to wake up Aubrey and get answers right away, but knowing that if Aubrey had shown up in the middle of the night, it meant Aubrey had to be tired and needed the sleep. And considering Aubrey was in Atlanta so soon after her company retreat, Stacie couldn't really blame her for maximizing her sleeping time. With a sigh, Stacie checked the nearest clock to estimate how much time she could give Aubrey before she had to leave for her class.

Aubrey didn't stir even as Stacie took a shower, which was the clearest indication Stacie had that the older girl wasn't faking, which only served to increase her concern over why Aubrey was there.

It also made her worry that whatever it was that had brought Aubrey to the Barden Bellas' front step in the middle of the night, it might be the very same thing that would make Aubrey leave just as suddenly.

So if she asked the Bellas to stick close to Aubrey if she ever left the house, and Lilly to follow the blonde if none of the other Bellas could keep Aubrey company, Stacie thought her concerns were perfectly valid.

Except Aubrey knew the Barden campus better than Stacie or Lilly or any of the other Bellas did, and Stacie was dismayed to get a text message from Lilly simply saying she'd lost her mark.

But before Lilly lost Aubrey, Aubrey woke up in Chloe and Stacie's room, momentarily confused why her pillow smelled like Chloe's fruity shampoo and why she was on a single bed. When it all came crashing back to her, Aubrey jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom, because reflex or no, old habits died hard.

A quick shower and a brief raid of Chloe and Stacie's shared closet got her items of clothing that she was pretty sure belonged to her, items stolen or claimed over time by both roommate and girlfriend, and Aubrey considered what her plans for the day should be.

Consulting her phone for the time, Aubrey sighed at the number of messages and emails also waiting for her attention, but other than the one from Stacie asking her to send a message when she woke up, none of the other messages looked to be important or urgent. Aubrey typed out a response to Stacie, and made her way down to the main floor of the Barden Bellas' house, accepting the mildly confused yet warm welcome from the Bellas.

Claiming to need coffee, Aubrey broke free from the Bellas' close watch, the Bellas' overly-familiar and cheery interaction clearly Chloe or Stacie's doing, and managing to lose the trailing Lilly by ducking into a building that only official Barden University personnel were allowed to enter; the security guard was the same woman who used to be assigned to Aubrey's department building when she had been a student, and recognizing her, had allowed her inside when Aubrey requested use of the vending machine.

She was being unfair, she knew, after all she was the one who had chosen to show up in Barden and interrupt her friends' existence, but Aubrey hadn't felt inclined to return to her grandparents' house or deal with her mother, and since New York was partly a source of her current situation, Aubrey didn't want to head back north just yet.

Using the building's connecting passage to the adjacent building and using that as an exit, Aubrey made her way to a part of campus she knew the Bellas didn't frequent, if they even knew about it.

She needed to think.

The thing was, everyone at the retreat had known they were going through the immersive for a reason, and popular opinion had been that they were all slated for some kind of promotion or change of responsibilities, and the reason for the putting them through such an intense team-building exercise had been to establish who would be their support system with the changes. Aubrey had known when the group she'd been assigned to had voted her as their leader with such witty rejoinder of getting used to the role that her suspicion of an impending promotion had made its rounds through the corporate hierarchy as a rumor.

She hadn't been the only member of Oversight at Nashville, but the other member had only recently been promoted, and the other members of their team had been local or regional, and Aubrey had been present, at one point even acting as the point of contact, for every step of the negotiations.

So she knew the possibilities. She'd known what to expect.

She had miscalculated.

Ironically, when she'd first realized the clusterfuck at Nashville would ultimately lead to a change in the nature of her job, she'd thought it would work in her favor: because she and her coworkers all knew it was unlikely she would be allowed to work so closely in client board rooms in the near future, that she would be relegated back to staying in the head office.

So when the retreat ended and her immediate superior called for her presence in their Florida office, Aubrey hadn't hesitated.

After all, being in one place for an extended period of time would be a welcome change, especially since Stacie would be graduating next year and it would be nice if they could see each other on a far more regular basis than their current haphazard schedule.

She really should learn to be more careful about what she wished for.

Aubrey sipped from her cup of coffee, closing her eyes at the familiar taste that hearkened back to a far more simpler time in her life, and smiled wistfully as she listened to the familiar cacophony of music students setting up their instruments in the room below her.

And while she would never be happy about the fact that Chloe insisted on staying in college for far longer than necessary, it heartened her to know that some things didn't change: when she'd shown up in the middle of the night and Stacie refused to wake up and make room on her bed, Chloe hadn't hesitated to share her own.

Sharing a bed with Chloe wasn't a new experience, but there was an additional layer of grief in the simple gesture, since in the past, Chloe usually held her to sleep after particularly bad conversations Aubrey had with her dad, and that morning had been a harsh reminder that Chloe hadn't been there – Aubrey hadn't allowed herself to want or need Chloe to be there – when he'd died.

Simpler times.

College had been a simpler time.

Like moving from Chicago to New York had been simple. There hadn't been a lot of things keeping her in Chicago, and New York had promised a lot of things. She and her mom had still been on their uneasy truce at the time, the both discovering who they were without the man who had formed their lives so much, and Aubrey hadn't hesitated to take advantage of the opportunity to reinvent Aubrey Posen, going from earnest fresh graduate to hardworking management trainee to ambitious junior executive for Oversight.

She heard the door to the rooftop open, but she didn't turn, knowing any number of students knew about the hangout and could have gone there for the same reason she was.

To think. To be alone.

She was surprised, but not unpleasantly so, when she was joined at the edge of the balcony.

"You have class for another hour."

"Library time for a research paper."

Aubrey gave the girl beside her a sidelong glance, and Stacie returned it with a smug grin. "My girlfriend finds my academic side pretty hot."

"Very hot."

"Back off, blondie, just because she just slept with her best friend doesn't mean you get to flirt with me just now."

Aubrey had to smile, shaking her head as she turned her attention back to the view. "You kicked me out of your bed."

"Girl, I don't just let anyone creep into my bed while I'm sleeping." Stacie returned.

Aubrey glanced at her, nodded briefly, but didn't say anything. And for a little while, they stood together in comfortable silence, knowing what came next would be important.

"I figured you'd be here." Stacie said softly as a preamble, glancing at the blonde briefly before redirecting her gaze to their view of the Barden University campus. "How'd you duck Lilly?"

"A good magician never gives away their tricks." Aubrey quipped, but didn't expound on the answer.

Stacie glanced at her. "Weren't you still at the retreat?"

"That was the other day." Aubrey reported. "I had to go to Florida."

"What's in Florida?"

"My boss."

Stacie quirked an eyebrow, but didn't say anything, wary of what would have required Aubrey to see her boss so soon, when they usually only met when they were both in New York at the Oversight offices. "And?"

"I was right."

"Promotion?"

"Promotion." Aubrey confirmed.

But for someone getting promoted, Aubrey's tone was unusually dull. "Aubrey?"

 _"It'll be more up your alley, managing the workforce and ensuring the offices are working efficiently. It's mostly administrative, and you'll probably be delegating a lot of stuff down the line."_

Her boss's words, when breaking the news to her.

 _"You'll have a team, of course, they'll report to you and you can just communicate to me and the manager what you think is necessary to help you get your job done."_

It had all been such nice words, almost similar to the same spiel she'd once also given to Aubrey, when she'd been offering her a job opportunity in New York, to uproot from Chicago.

Not that there had been roots, in Chicago.

Intellectually, she understood the reasoning. She was the youngest member of Oversight, she didn't have roots, and she didn't have a lot to consider in terms of logistics. Ideally, she could still continue doing the job she was doing now, but she'd been part of a series of major deals, and the smart thing to do was give her a promotion, but there wasn't a lot of room for that in Oversight, and she knew from experience that local offices probably wouldn't take well to an upstart young blond executive who a lot of people considered was barely out of college, without the backing of her immediate superior.

And they were right: the job _was_ up her alley. It was mostly managing numbers, managing people working on the various projects the office was handling. It was what she'd been trained to do, what she was good at.

 _"Aubrey?"_

"Aubrey?" Stacie repeated, concerned, when Aubrey didn't say anything.

 _"Think it over. It's a big opportunity."_

The thing was, while she understood everything intellectually, and the situation was similar, the move from Chicago to New York had been vastly different.

She had only been in Chicago for a few months before the move to New York. There had been nothing making her stay in Chicago; she'd had no attachments whatsoever. Everyone in their management training group had all known their time in Chicago was limited, they had signed up for the training for the inevitable assignments to other offices across the country.

Heck, the fact that she and Kathryn had both ended up working for the same area, much less the same _region_ , had been a major coincidence.

She had concentrated on her job, when she first got to Chicago. Money management had demanded a lot of time and effort, and she'd been busy proving herself, since Barden wasn't exactly a top school for business. And then she'd been in a relationship, but the job had taken precedence.

The job had always taken precedence.

When she'd left Georgia, leaving behind her best friend and a girl who had been everything she could want or ask for; when her family had been splintering in the wake of her father's stroke: she'd had her job.

When her personal life had been a sham, her social life a parade of strangers to keep her preoccupied, she'd had her job, the easy way out of any personal confrontation, because the job took precedence.

New York had been a little better. The acquaintance tree had shaken her roommate loose, and though they weren't close, at least they were friendly.

Her coworkers at Oversight were ambitious and cutthroat, but at least they weren't competing with each other, and she didn't have to worry about any inevitable backstabbing.

She'd had a social life, too, and maybe they weren't the Bellas and could never compare to them, but she hadn't lacked for company.

And then Dan had quit, and she'd exiled herself to Philadelphia.

Aubrey turned to look at Stacie, at the girl who had been so unfiltered and so blatant one morning in an elevator in Philadelphia, and had been a refreshing breath of fresh air; so much so that until Stacie had reentered her life, Aubrey hadn't realized that a part of her had been drowning.

She'd rebuilt, then. Been more discerning about the people in her life. Making arrangements to see Stacie made her travel more often near North Carolina, so she had made the effort to see her grandparents and her mother more often. She'd reconnected with Dave, with Kathryn, with Kevin.

She'd reconnected with the Bellas.

Maybe she and Chloe weren't in the same place they once had been, and a part of her worried but reluctantly accepted that there was a possibility they would never recover the relationship they'd once had, but at least they were back in each other's life.

And she had Stacie.

"They want me to take England."

Stacie froze, because they both knew what England meant, not just in terms of Aubrey's career but to their relationship, and there was a reason why the prospect had been regarded with such trepidation. She swallowed, and forced to choke out, looking away, "That's…" Stacie wanted to say that it was good, to congratulate Aubrey for getting a post with so much responsibility and esteem, but the words wouldn't get out.

Aubrey looked at her, watching the most minute of expressions, how Stacie wanted to be happy for her, how they both knew what it meant for her career and how much weight the posting carried; but more than all of that, was Stacie's obvious feelings on what the job in England would mean to their relationship.

And cut to the chase.

"I said no."

Stacie turned back to stare at her, eyes snapping to meet Aubrey's, because they both knew what that meant.

And Aubrey confirmed it, saying the very thing that made months of therapy and behavior training moot and made old habits resurface.

Oddly, she didn't feel that same panic, the anxiety that had led her to the Barden campus in the middle of the night. Looking at Stacie, despite the obvious repercussions of her decision, a part of her knew she wouldn't regret it.

"I think I just quit."


	53. Chapter 53

A long silence descended upon the two young women standing on top of the Barden University music conservatory, a lengthy silence following the bombshell revelation Aubrey had verbalized. For Aubrey, it was the first time she had actually said the words out loud and made it real, and for Stacie, she needed to break down everything that Aubrey had said and really think about what it meant.

And could only come up with questions, struggling to comprehend the full implications of what Aubrey had just said.

"You quit?"

Aubrey took a deep breath, and nodded. "Pending an official letter of resignation, but yes."

"Why?"

Aubrey paused, and leveled a look of incredulity at Stacie. "Seriously?"

"I'm trying to understand why you'd quit."

"Stacie, there's no place for me in Oversight in the North American region. They're giving me England so they can keep me in their roster." Aubrey pointed out. "I go where they tell me to. And if I want to keep my job, my only option is to go to England. There are no options to this."

Stacie shook her head, trying to understand, because she knew how important Oversight was, and Aubrey's role in it, and tried to argue, "But your boss likes you, maybe—"

"She's the one who told me about this," Aubrey interrupted, perturbed, unsure as to why Stacie was reacting the way she was. "Why are you asking these things?"

"It's your job!"

"That's not the point." Aubrey shook her head. "There are other jobs."

"Are there?" Stacie challenged. "You keep on saying that there aren't a lot of companies who would pay you what your current job does."

"Yeah, but you told me recently that it shouldn't be about the money."

Stacie cringed, because hearing that was a reminder of how naïve she tended to be when related to Aubrey, especially now that she was facing the fact that the reality was a whole lot more complicated than just believing a job didn't have to be about the money. "Aubrey, think about this."

Aubrey shook her head, fending off what Stacie was trying to argue. "Stacie, I don't have a choice. I can't move to England."

"Why not?"

Aubrey's jaw dropped, incredulous, because was Stacie serious right now? And she had to ask it out loud: "Are you serious right now?"

Stacie just gave her a look, obviously expecting some kind of an explanation.

"How about the fact that I don't want to?" Aubrey replied. "Or that I have friends here, my family. Everyone I care about is here. My mom and I only _just_ started being able to have a conversation like normal people again. I have projects that have nothing to do with my job that I'd like to continue, that I'd like to handle personally."

"But your career—"

"Stacie, do you _want_ me to go England?" Aubrey cut in, trying to figure out where Stacie was coming from, and trying to cut to the chase because Stacie was not reacting the way Aubrey had expected her to.

"You're not saying it, so I will," Stacie told her. "Aubrey, you can't give up your career for this relationship."

Aubrey stared at her for a full beat, letting Stacie's statement sink in, and when it did she couldn't hold back the wry laugh that escaped. "I put a red flag on my personnel file, practically jeopardizing my career, to sleep with an intern. Or have you forgotten that already?"

Stacie looked down, chastened.

"In fact, how many stupid comments do you think I get on a regular basis, from the people I work with, about the fact that my girlfriend's still a college undergraduate?" Aubrey asked. "I don't have to travel as much as I do, but I do it, because otherwise you could end up being just another relationship I neglected until you got fed up."

"We can survive you working in England." Stacie said softly.

Aubrey shook her head mournfully. "But what if we can't?"

Stacie looked at her, because while they've argued about the circumstances of their relationship before, Aubrey had never verbalized such a death knell before. "Bree, I know it looks bleak, but you shouldn't give up career opportunities like this for the sake of a relationship that's barely a year old."

"That's not what I'm doing."

"Isn't it?" Stacie challenged. "Because from where I'm standing you're sacrificing a lot."

"Sacrifice?" Aubrey repeated. "You think me choosing to stay where I want to be is a sacrifice?"

"No, that's not…" Stacie shook her head. "Will you please think about this?"

"Why do you sound so against this?"

"Because I don't understand!" Stacie exclaimed.

"What's to understand?" Aubrey asked. "I don't want to go."

"Why not?" Stacie asked desperately. "Aubrey, I love you, but I don't want you looking back on this moment years from now and blaming me for what you're giving up."

What came next, to Stacie's surprise, was not an impassioned explanation, or a defensive outburst; she would even have welcomed a scathing response. Instead Aubrey fell silent, as if she had retreated from the argument, but the way her gaze remained on Stacie, getting a measure of her, an array of emotions fighting to be conveyed through her gaze, told Stacie that the confrontation wasn't over.

Stacie took a deep breath, but Aubrey beat her to it.

"I know you think you're trying to be helpful," Aubrey began. "But I just told you I quit my job – a job you already know means a lot to me, and the only thing I really had for the better part of over a year – and that I'm quitting for a whole lot of other reasons both personal and professional; and you think you telling me we can work through it will change my mind?"

Stacie sighed. "That's not what I'm trying to do."

"Well, that's what I'm getting from you." Aubrey told her. "I'm not going to England. When I get to New York, I'm turning in my resignation. And I'd really appreciate it if you'd stop trying to talk me out of it."

"Aubrey-"

Aubrey's phone cut off Stacie's response, and as testament to how Aubrey felt about the conversation, she answered the incoming call. "Aubrey Posen's phone." Pause. "Hey, Dave. No, that's real." Pause. "Barden." Pause. "Okay, I'll see you in twenty." She laughed, and hearing a genuine laugh from Aubrey sent a pang of guilt through Stacie because she doubted she'd be on the receiving end of one anytime soon. "Yeah, whatever. You're paying. I'll see you."

Stacie watched Aubrey end the call but continue using her phone, and asked: "Dave knows?"

Aubrey looked over at her, and deadpanned, "I guess my boss is taking me a lot more seriously than you are."

"Aubrey…" Stacie sighed wearily. "Don't be like this."

Aubrey shook her head, clearly unwilling to continue the argument, and consequently dismissed Stacie's gentle plea. She closed the app she had been using, and said curtly, "I'm meeting Dave for lunch. I'll see you later."

"Aubrey, come on. I'm just worried."

Aubrey turned to her, her annoyance evident. "Stacie, think about who you're talking to. I've clearly thought about this." Aubrey pointed out. "And if you're so worried, you could have at least asked what I'm going to do, now that I've quit."

Stacie fell silent, because Aubrey raised a good point.

"So I'm gonna go, and have lunch with Dave." Aubrey informed her. "Because _he_ wants to know what my plans are now, and he has stuff he thinks I might want to look into. You know, like someone who supports me would do."

Stacie sighed in exasperation, this time because her girlfriend could be such a bitch sometimes. "I _am_ being supportive. I just want you to really think about what you're doing."

Aubrey shook her head, and sharply declared: "We're done with this conversation."

Reluctantly, Stacie nodded, because even she could recognize that the girl she was currently facing was the same Aubrey from two years ago, the girl who refused to listen to any suggestion to make any changes to their dated ICCA set, the girl who had made up her mind and would not be swayed from it. So they both knew Aubrey needed to go and see Dave, not only to make their appointment but for Aubrey to have an outlet she could adequately vent on; to take a break from her conversation with Stacie and get an outside perspective, and maybe understand where Stacie was coming from.

At Stacie's obvious retreat, Aubrey relented a little, and softened her tone as she reached out to touch Stacie's hand in feeble attempt at reestablishing a connection. "I really have to go see Dave now; but I'll see you later, okay?"

Stacie looked at her, and nodded briefly.

Aubrey hesitated, wanting to move closer but knowing neither of them were in a place for that kind of physical intimacy. Instead, she led Stacie to the door, and they went back inside the building they used to get to the Music Conservatory's rooftop; walking in an awkward silence until Aubrey finally said, "I'm sorry I sprung this on you."

Stacie frowned, and glanced at Aubrey before she shook her head. "No, don't be. This… I'm glad you came here."

Aubrey glanced at her.

"It's nice not being the last person to know something about your job," Stacie admitted. She hesitated, unsure if what she wanted to ask would spark Aubrey's ire once more or continue the resigned exasperation, but before she could make a decision, they emerged at the building's entrance, where a car was waiting.

"This is mine." Aubrey said, taking a step towards the car before she hesitated, and turned back to Stacie. "Um, do me a favor?"

Stacie glanced at her inquiringly.

Aubrey looked at her. "Don't do anything stupid and recklessly selfless and try to force me into taking England."

Stacie frowned, unsure of what Aubrey meant.

Aubrey seemed to take Stacie's confused silence as acquiescence, and nodded, leaning forward to quickly kiss her cheek. "I'll see you later."

So at least Stacie knew she and Aubrey were going to be OK, if they had returned to a place where they freely gave small gestures of affection; but Aubrey's request nagged at Stacie, leading her to confide with her friends.

At least eight of them.

And since they had a standing invitation to attend an afternoon pool party over at the Treblemakers' house, she had to condense the narration a little, hoping she didn't miss anything in the details.

"What did she mean?" Flo asked curiously, hoping that those who had known Aubrey for a longer period of time would have an explanation.

"What counts as stupid and reckless, though, because it's Aubrey and I don't trust her with what counts as stupid." Fat Amy intoned. She paused, and then added, "Or reckless."

"I think the important part in this is the selfless," Beca noted. "Because that's weird."

Cynthia Rose furrowed her brow and looked at Stacie. "Help me out: is she, or isn't she, staying because of you?"

Stacie shrugged helplessly. "She says it's not, but I have to think it, right? At least a little."

"Would you have wanted her to go?" Denise asked.

"Does it matter?" Stacie asked wearily. "She doesn't think our relationship would survive the distance. As if our whole relationship isn't about surviving distance."

"It's different when you're an ocean apart," Jessica pointed out.

"It won't be as easy to just show up because she wanted to see you," Ashley agreed. From Beca's side, Lilly noted how much harder it was to sneak onto aircrafts than getting rides on buses or trains.

"Okay, fine, that's true," Stacie conceded, "But what's that whole thing about doing something stupid? Like, what does she think I'm going to do?"

There was a moment of collective silent deliberation among the group, until Chloe noted from behind them, "Don't any of you watch romantic comedies?"

The group turned to her, but they all remained confused.

"When did you get here?" Beca asked curiously, but her query was ignored.

Chloe looked at them expectantly. "Teen dramas? ABC Family? The CW?"

Nothing.

Chloe rolled her eyes in exasperation before addressing Stacie. "You think she should take the job, she doesn't. And if you've seen the same movies me and Aubrey have, you'd know what we know."

Stacie stared at her blankly, as did the other Bellas. "Which is…?"

"You think it's just about your relationship and that she should take the job anyway. And you'll do something stupid like break up with her, or do something even more dumb to make her think you're not worth it. And she's telling you not to."

"Dumber than them breaking up?" Beca asked.

Chloe frowned at them. "You really don't know?"

Confused looks all around.

Chloe sighed. "Sometimes breaking up isn't enough, because that can be read as the relationship needing to be worked on."

"So the option is…?" Fat Amy drew out, prompting Chloe to continue.

Chloe looked at Stacie. "Something reckless."

"Like…?" Several of the Bellas pressed.

But Stacie already understood, because now that Chloe was spelling it out, it was kind of obvious, given what Aubrey considered was the most telltale sign when a relationship was beyond repair. "Does she really think I'd do that?"

"No, I don't think so." Chloe admitted, shaking her head. "But if she thought for even a second that you would think that it could be the one thing that would force her to choose her career?"

Stacie frowned, but nodded to acknowledge what Chloe was saying. While she hadn't really thought about what Chloe was suggesting – what Aubrey had implied – she had to admit that as a last resort, if she had been so desperate to prove Aubrey wrong about her decision not to accept the job in England, she couldn't discount the possibility that she might have made the mistake of doing something so drastic.

She'd live to regret it, but that was probably what being "recklessly selfless" would be like.

Fat Amy frowned, and glanced at her friends. "What are they talking about?"

The group only shrugged.

Since this new understanding gave Stacie something to think about, and Chloe wouldn't elaborate for the rest of the Bellas – some things were still held sacred between her and Aubrey, despite their strained relationship – understandably, they were both distracted at the Trebles' party, especially considering Aubrey had not yet returned from lunch, and had not sent a single message or call since she left Barden.

When Chloe eventually made her way back to their house, finding the ever-present conversation topic of people's upcoming finals and graduation requirements tiresome, she slowed her steps when she recognized the girl sitting on the front steps, looking so much like the girl she'd once known, that it legitimately gave her pause and made her conflicted on how to approach Aubrey.

So instead of saying anything, worried that her opening line would be wrong, she sat down beside Aubrey, both of them facing out in the direction of the curb, and let silence fall between them.

Chloe felt Aubrey's gaze fall upon her for a long, measuring second, before Aubrey looked away. Wordlessly, Aubrey handed Chloe the paper bag beside her, and Chloe peered into it long enough to see what was in it. She couldn't help but chuckle. "I don't think you're supposed to hide champagne in a paper bag."

"It's supposed to be celebratory," Aubrey admitted. When Chloe raised an eyebrow at her, she shrugged. "I'm undecided."

Chloe nodded in understanding, and took the bottle. After taking a sip, she handed the bottle back to Aubrey. "That shit's good."

"Isn't it?" Aubrey agreed.

Chloe glanced at Aubrey. "Stacie said you'd quit your job."

"I did." Aubrey nodded.

Chloe glanced away briefly, but returned her attention to Aubrey. "What are you gonna do now?"

Aubrey exhaled, the heaviness of her sigh a testament to how she felt about some of the things that question meant. "I don't know."

Chloe nodded, and took the champagne back.

Aubrey glanced at her, and knew how to look for the signs of frustration that Chloe could hide so well. She thought well of the current crop of Barden Bellas, but she wasn't sure any of them knew how to look past the surface when it came to Chloe, or what to do if they did. "How are you, Chloe?"

"Oh," Chloe smiled, but it wasn't the same smile Aubrey knew. "You know me."

Aubrey did, but at the same time she knew that the Chloe with her at that moment wasn't one she really knew, and instead of pressing, like she once could have done, could only ask: "Do you want to talk about it?"

Chloe's smile wavered, but she replied the same way Aubrey had, hours earlier when Aubrey had first shown up in Georgia and she'd asked something similar of Aubrey. "Not really."

Aubrey nodded, and they fell back to silence, this time a little less awkward than when they Chloe first sat down beside Aubrey. There was once a time when just being around each other compelled both of them to talk, to confide in each other and verbalize what was bothering them – or at least try to find the words to explain it – that despite the comfortable silence they had lapsed into, there was an awkwardness in knowing they just weren't able to talk to each other anymore.

Which was how most of the Barden Bellas saw them when they returned, and if they wondered why one of their captains was drinking with their former captain, and from a bottle inside a paper bag, no less, nobody asked it out loud.

Seeing the pair together, reminiscent of when the Bellas had perceived Aubrey and Chloe as a single, co-captain unit, the Bellas' volume of conversation lowered slightly, possibly in deference to their current and former leader, or possibly because the somber mood could be read even in their inebriation. They only nodded their acknowledgment of the two; even if there was a moment wherein there was some hesitation on whether or not they could join them at the steps, but ultimately most of them opted to head inside and leave them alone.

Bringing up the rear, formerly in conversation with Beca and Jessica, Stacie drifted off from it when she saw who was seated in front of the Bellas' house. If it weren't for the facts that Aubrey was obviously having a moment with Chloe, and Stacie herself was a little on the alcohol-laden side of the sobriety spectrum, she would have launched herself towards Aubrey; whether to embrace her in passion or to fulfill a need to berate her for having been incommunicado for the better part of the afternoon, she wasn't sure, but Stacie admittedly felt a need to re-establish some kind of connection.

Chloe took note of the Bellas entering the house, noticing the absence of both Denise and Flo, and nodded to herself, knowing she had at least two options of where she could be sleeping that night. She took notice of Stacie, whose gaze was fixed upon the girl beside Chloe, before she glanced at Aubrey inquiringly, whose equally burning gaze upon Stacie flickered for just a second to nod briefly at Chloe.

Nodding, more to herself than to acknowledge Aubrey, Chloe called over her shoulder, "Who wants leftover champagne?"

"Is it any good?" Jessica asked.

"Aubrey brought it."

It was a little concerning, if albeit amusing, that more than a few Bellas took her up on her offer, emerging from the house and joining her on the steps. Amidst the throng of people, Aubrey got to her feet, taking the hand Stacie held out to her, and they walked into the house together.

Beca, who had been closest to the door and witnessed the silent interaction, couldn't help but observe, "It's like she _wants_ to keep doing laundry forever."

Fat Amy laughed, discarding the paper bag the champagne bottle had been in and handing it to Beca as she retorted, "We know it's not really laundry she wants to keep doing."


	54. Chapter 54

It told Stacie so much about where she and Aubrey were individually in terms of their relationship that when they were alone in the privacy of Stacie's room, Stacie sat down on her bed while Aubrey opted to take a seat on Chloe's bed. Stacie wondered if Aubrey felt the same awkwardness that she did, wanting to talk about what had happened earlier at the roof of the music conservatory while at the same time just glad to be in the same room and physically within distance of each other.

Aubrey, who found the quiet comforting, was perfectly content to let the silence continue; not to mention the fact that she was pretty sure the alcohol in her system was going to affect the words likely to come out of her mouth – she probably shouldn't have started drinking the champagne – so she opted to remain silent.

Realizing her girlfriend wasn't going to start, Stacie sighed, standing up and going to the bath room to change into something for her to sleep in, and to remove her make up. She felt Aubrey's gaze follow her, but the girl didn't make a move.

Finding safety in being in separate rooms, but somehow still in relative proximity, Stacie asked, "Where did you go?"

Aubrey decided she could answer factual questions, and answered, "I had lunch with Dave."

Stacie rolled her eyes, because she'd been there when Aubrey made those plans, but the fact remained that Aubrey had been gone for hours, and Stacie knew Dave had work, which is why she pressed, "The whole afternoon?"

"He took the afternoon off."

Stacie peered out of the bath room to cast a curious look at Aubrey. "Where'd you go?"

"Bar." Aubrey replied.

Stacie arched an eyebrow.

Aubrey repeated what Dave had told her to convince her to go drinking in the middle of the afternoon: "Get a head start on the tasty downward spiral."

Stacie frowned. "That's…"

"He, uh," Aubrey racked her brain, trying to remember the bits and pieces of what she and Dave had talked about earlier. "He had a proposal. And I've been saying no for months, but he figured I'm gonna be unemployed and might be more accommodating if I'm drunk, so…" she shrugged.

Stacie's eyebrow arched higher. "What did he want?"

"There's a money guy and Dave wants some of it," Aubrey started, caught herself and how that sounded, before she amended, a little more carefully, "Dave has a meeting coming up with this money guy who funds start-ups or helps small businesses, so Dave wants me to look over his ideas and come up with business plans for them and make a presentation."

Stacie pursed her lips, hesitating briefly before asking, "Is that one of the reasons why you chose to stay?"

Aubrey shook her head. "I was talking about stuff I'm working on with Jill and Wes. Well," Aubrey paused, correcting herself, "not Jill _and_ Wes. I'm working on stuff with Jill, and other stuff with Wes. And now with Dave." She frowned, a thought suddenly occurring to her. "I really should start making them pay me."

"You're working on something with Jill?" Stacie asked, unable to prevent the sharp tone her question applied.

"Yeah, that's…" Aubrey's frown deepened as she looked up at Stacie. "That's why she and I met up at Coachella. For work stuff."

Oh. Right. Stacie turned back to the bath room, partly to hide from Aubrey's gaze. She had honestly forgotten that Jill wasn't just a girl Aubrey had previously slept with and was still friends with, and that Aubrey being in Coachella at the same time Stacie and the rest of the Bellas had been there hadn't been the fates interceding. She continued her nighttime rituals, finding it disconcerting when Aubrey didn't continue telling her about what she was working on with Dave, Jill, or her roommate. Or explain anything about the topic of discussion Aubrey had summarily cut short earlier that day.

She didn't hear Aubrey's heavy sigh, but Stacie definitely heard the defeated tone in Aubrey's voice when she started, "Look, about earlier…"

Stacie frowned, and hastily wiped her face with a towel, having washed off most of her makeup, before turning towards the door and returning to the room, her sudden reappearance making Aubrey pause.

At Aubrey's pause, Stacie hesitated, wondering why, before she realized she'd gone to the bath room without a change of clothes, and had already shed the clothes she'd worn to the party.

Aubrey's gaze lingered for a beat longer before she seemed to catch herself, quickly averting her gaze and steadfastly trying to avoid looking directly at Stacie and her… assets. "I, uh, I don't know if I said or did anything that was… worse than usual for me, but I know I didn't come off, like, pretty good or…" Aubrey blew out a breath, glancing briefly in Stacie's direction, then quickly looking away again. "It's kinda awkward to say this stuff and not look at you."

"Why won't you?" Stacie queried, torn between wanting to ease Aubrey's awkwardness, and wanting to prolong it, to tease her girlfriend, finding the deepening blush on Aubrey's cheeks the cutest thing.

"It's hard to look you in the eye when you're that hot and almost naked." Aubrey replied, before groaning, "Fucking tequila shots."

"No brain to mouth filter?" Stacie asked.

"If I concentrate real hard I can control it." Aubrey admitted.

"You can't concentrate?"

Aubrey spared her a quick glance, noticing the diminishing distance between Stacie and herself, and averted her gaze once more. "There was a lot of alcohol."

"Aubrey," Stacie said softly, cupping Aubrey's face gently with her hands, forcing the blonde to look at her. She knew Aubrey had a remarkable alcohol tolerance, but from what she could tell, and what Aubrey was inadvertently admitting to, was that she had mixed her drinks, which was the surest way to get Aubrey inebriated. "Why were you drinking?"

"To get drunk?"

"And why is that?"

"Because," Aubrey began, faltering slightly in trying to find the words to adequately convey what she wanted to say. She tried again. "Because we fought."

"Couples fight all the time." Stacie pointed out gently.

"Yeah, I know, but I left." Aubrey added. "I left, and I didn't call. It was petty, I know, but I said, that if we're fighting, we have to say the stuff. And I didn't, and you deserve better than-"

Stacie didn't necessarily disagree with anything Aubrey was saying, but neither did she completely agree with Aubrey's self-assessment of how she had handled their disagreement. But she knew how Aubrey could get when she got herself worked up about something, and how her tunnel vision prevented her from hearing or acknowledging any opposing viewpoint, so she did the only thing she had in her arsenal that she knew could distract Aubrey enough to pay attention, and maybe hopefully get out of her downward spiral of self-recrimination.

And there was no shortage of relief to the knowledge that Aubrey immediately responded to her kiss, acting as means of reassurance that they would be fine; that despite their earlier conflict, it wasn't anything that couldn't be fixed.

It wasn't exactly forgiveness, but they would get there eventually.

For Stacie's part, after having her shortcomings as one half of a couple highlighted, either explicitly or implicitly by both Aubrey and Chloe, and being reminded that there was still so much she didn't know about how to handle certain elements in a relationship, Stacie was only too happy to revert to more familiar ground, doing away with the complications of having her words twisted or misinterpreted and even purposely misunderstood, and going back to the more physical aspect of her relationship with Aubrey.

Maybe it was the reassurance that came from going back to a simpler time, when the basis of their relationship had been mostly physical and they found their reassurances in their lovemaking, back when they had both been fully aware of the complications that came with words, in defining their relationship, in making demands when there had been so little they were really ready to give.

Because she could never take back her initial reaction, the questions she'd had when Aubrey told her about her newfound unemployment; but she could make up for it, she could assure Aubrey that she wanted her to stay, she could tell her she loved her…

She could reassure Aubrey, for the missteps of their earlier conversation, and forgive Aubrey for making insulting insinuations about how far she was willing to go to ensure Aubrey would make the right decision.

She could reassure herself that she and Aubrey would be okay, taking comfort in the way Aubrey kissed her, the way Aubrey touched her, the way Aubrey said her name; the way Aubrey held her afterwards, as if she too had needed to be reassured that they were okay.

There was some tension in the silence that settled between them, the tension of things left unsaid, and Stacie resigned herself to the fact that despite the interruption of reestablishing their physical intimacy, they actually needed to talk things through.

But it was nice, being held, after the emotional and physical distance that had been so prevalent between them for most of the day, and Stacie was relieved when Aubrey seemed equally reluctant to leave their embrace; the limited space of Stacie's bed working in their favor.

The silence stretched on for long minutes, and Stacie wondered if she should be worried about Aubrey's prolonged silence, but Aubrey just looked back at her guilelessly, her earlier remorse gone, her guilt slightly lifted.

"When do you have to go back?" Stacie finally asked, finding the topic of their remaining time together the safest subject to start with.

"I have to be in New York on Monday," Aubrey replied.

"To turn in your resignation?" Stacie asked.

"And to start turning over everything in my workload," Aubrey nodded.

Stacie hesitated, but she leaned back just enough to put some kind of distance between them without breaking their embrace, as she tried to convey as much of her concern as prudent, without pushing Aubrey to the same emotional response she had that morning. "Are you really okay with this?"

Aubrey exhaled, looking past Stacie briefly before returning her gaze to Stacie's. "It would have been nice not to have to make the decision, but I really think I'm okay with the one I'm making."

Stacie studied her for a moment, searching her eyes for something that would indicate Aubrey's answer false, but she could only read her honesty. "I know you said there's a bunch of reasons—"

"Stacie…"

"I know there are other reasons," Stacie said firmly, because she could not drop this point so easily, "but I need you to look me in the eye and tell me that this decision isn't about me. That it's not about us."

"You know I can't do that."

Stacie frowned.

"Stacie," Aubrey said, the weariness evident in her tone, "You know I considered other things, more than just our relationship. But our relationship counts as a factor. Of course it's a factor."

"So that shit you said about reckless selfless behavior?" Stacie asked dryly.

"Yeah, that…" Aubrey blew out a breath, admittedly guilty, while the tips of her ears turned red in embarrassment. "That wasn't cool."

"Why would you even say that?"

"Because I was afraid you were convinced that I should take the job," Aubrey admitted.

"Aubrey."

"You didn't say _a word_ about wanting me to stay," Aubrey pointed out gently. "Even if you had, that wasn't the feeling I was getting from you. And I was worried you'd try and take matters into your own hands."

"You know how I feel about cheating."

"And you know how I feel about people trying to make my decisions for me," Aubrey countered. "What I said wasn't cool, and I'm really sorry I said it. But I just… I needed to make sure, if there was the tiniest bit of a chance that you were thinking it, that you knew it wouldn't work."

Stacie sighed, before moving back closer to Aubrey. "Okay, but just so we're clear: you owe me."

"All right," Aubrey agreed, waiting for Stacie to get comfortable and settle before she adjusted her hold on Stacie, tangling one hand in Stacie's dark hair. Stacie sighed, melting into their embrace. Aubrey glanced down at her briefly before she voiced out, "I know you're worried that I'm refusing this post for reasons you think are questionable. And I know you're worried. I am, too."

"It's what you've been working for."

"I know," Aubrey conceded. "But that job doesn't feel right to me. At least, not anymore."

"But working on stuff with your friends is?"

"That's…" Aubrey stopped, figuring out how she wanted to deliver her answer. "I got this far in my job this quickly because I'm really good at telling people what to do, what I need them to do. Working with Jill and Wes, and now Dave: that's me figuring out what else I _can_ do. Doing this, instead of just taking whatever job they want me to, is really just me figuring that out some more."

Stacie thought on that for a moment, accepting Aubrey's rationale, before she sighed. "But what if it doesn't work out?"

"Then the fact that I'm just two years out of college and have working knowledge of how Fortune 500 companies work are awesome lines to have on my résumé."

The job wasn't the only thing Stacie was talking about, but she took Aubrey's response in stride. "You're being irritatingly blasé about this," Stacie remarked.

"I'm going to get severance in exchange for the non-compete and non-disclosure lines they'll probably include in my separation contract." Aubrey informed her. "Company rivals are always trying to poach people from Oversight, I'm sure a few of them would be happy to pay whatever non-compete bond is included in my severance."

"You can't blame me for being worried."

"Maybe," Aubrey allowed, "but I had hoped you'd feel as good as I did about choosing something for me instead of the job."

Stacie reached up, pulling back slightly as she tilted Aubrey's head down so their eyes could meet. "Are you happy?"

"Yes."

"And you'll be happy no matter what happens from this decision?"

Aubrey smiled weakly. "I really want to stay."

"And I'm really glad you are," Stacie replied. "And if this is really the choice that works for you, then forget everything I said, OK? I trust you to know what you're doing." She paused, and then amended, "Or, given our shared relationship experience, I trust you to have at least some kind of vague idea of what you're doing."

Aubrey had to chuckle, and kissed her, relieved that she could still do that so freely. "Yeah, this worked out, didn't it?"

"Mostly thanks to me," Stacie pointed out. She smiled wryly. "You're kind of a mess."

Aubrey rolled her eyes good naturedly. "You love me."

"Yeah," Stacie drew Aubrey closer, kissing her some more and letting their kisses linger and deepen with each pass, decidedly taking advantage of having an absent roommate. "I really do."


	55. Chapter 55

Aubrey was back in New York by Monday morning. Stacie would have preferred Aubrey's resignation to be effective immediately, for Aubrey to spend more time in Georgia so they could figure out the extent of the damage effected by Stacie's reaction to Aubrey's resignation and Aubrey's response in return. Yes, they've talked it out, and kissed and made up, but Stacie wanted to make up for her initial reaction, and she couldn't do that if Aubrey was thousands of miles away.

Stacie wanted Aubrey around so she could help Aubrey with her mild but increasing trepidation over her impending unemployment, and would have preferred them to be together so they could figure out how it would affect their relationship. She wanted to be there and help Aubrey figure out what she would do next, what came after; to be there for Aubrey while she recovered from the loss of the job she had held onto for so long.

Stacie didn't know what would be next for Aubrey, but Stacie would have preferred it if she could find out first hand alongside Aubrey.

Because aside from Aubrey's professional life, Stacie also didn't know or could have predicted what was in store for her in terms of her relationship with Aubrey the moment Aubrey quit her job, but Aubrey being even more busy than usual and having even less time to travel to Georgia or any neighboring state were not part of any of Stacie's expectations.

But apparently Oversight was intent on maximizing the time left in which they still had Aubrey, even though they kept her in New York for the time being.

"But I miss you," Stacie playfully whined, on the phone with Aubrey, while she watched from her seat at the bleachers as her fellow Bellas warm up for rehearsals, their final one before they boarded a plane for New York for the ICCA finals.

"You'll be in New York in two days," Beca reminded from her seat two benches down from where Stacie was sitting, making Stacie lament the fact that she had nothing nearby that she could lob in Beca's direction.

"I'm seeing you soon," Aubrey assured her. "And would you believe I'm actually going to be in New York for the ICCAs?" She added a fake gasp at the end, exaggerating the surprise.

Stacie rolled her eyes, as if she wasn't amused, and remarked, "You're ridiculous."

" _You're_ ridiculous," Beca retorted.

"Shut up, Beca." Stacie told her.

Beca glanced over her shoulder to look at Stacie. "Put a little more pitch in saying that and it'll be just like having Aubrey around."

Stacie glared at her, and told Aubrey over the phone, "Can you hang on? I'm just gonna go kill our captain."

"Won't that mess with your choreography?"

"We'll manage."

"And if you're talking about Beca, you won't hear any complaints from me, but you should know that I don't do conjugal visits." Aubrey warned.

Stacie groaned. "Kill my fun."

Beca snorted. "See? You don't even need to have Aubrey around." She yelped when Chloe, who was passing by, hit her with some rolled-up sheet music. "Ow!"

"Be nice." Chloe warned, taking a seat beside Beca to listen to the mix Beca was working on.

Beca pouted, rubbing her shoulder. "I _am_ nice."

"So how's work?" Stacie asked Aubrey, knowing it was safe to ignore Beca now that Chloe was around. "Why do they keep pushing back your last day?"

"Because I don't have a replacement and I have to delegate my work to several different people." Aubrey replied.

"That sucks."

"It really does." Aubrey agreed. "And it's not like I'm actually getting anything done, meantime."

Stacie frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I mean I'm stuck here when I could be working on any of my other projects," Aubrey replied dryly. "And as for _this_ job, it's amazing how much work you _can't_ get done when nobody wants to talk to you."

"Are they being mean to you?" Stacie asked.

"They think I'm meaninglessly quitting my job," Aubrey confided. "And I haven't come up with a good answer for my exit interview."

Stacie furrowed her brow. "Just one?"

"What?"

"You said you haven't come up with a good answer," Stacie pointed out. "Singular. What question don't you have an answer for?"

"My future plans," Aubrey explained. "Like, both in the immediate future and long-term. It's like the company's way of washing their hands off you, once you leave."

"I thought you _did_ have plans," Stacie reminded.

"Yeah, but none of those are really long-term, and if I can't give them a good long-term response, they could send me endless amounts of email for trainings and seminars I should look into during my unemployment."

"So?"

"So it's sad and pathetic when you used to be one of the people approving the list of names who'll get those emails and then start getting them yourself." Aubrey replied.

"So come up with a plan."

"I'm trying, but until something incredible happens, freelance consulting doesn't count."

Stacie rolled her eyes. "Then change your email address."

This time, Aubrey's gasp of indignation was real. "I've had the same email forever."

"Babe, you're weird." Stacie told her. "And boring. Remind me why I date you?"

"I can buy you alcohol." Aubrey deadpanned. "And I didn't want anything too embarrassing for my email address. Those things are like tattoos."

"Email addresses are free and you're still weird." Stacie returned. "And does that mean you won't find it hot if I get a tattoo?"

There was a pause, and then Aubrey asked weakly, "Like where?"

Stacie's smile grew, because she honestly loved how easy it was to get Aubrey. "Probably somewhere only you'll get to look at."

There was an audible whimper, and a scolding, "You're evil."

"You love me."

"I have to get back to work now," Aubrey grumbled. "See you on Friday."

"Tell me you love me." Stacie pouted.

"I love you."

"And we get there on Wednesday," Stacie reminded.

"And I don't get time off work until Friday," Aubrey returned. "Besides, you need to concentrate on the ICCAs."

Stacie scoffed. "Unless one of us vomits all over the front row, we have this in the bag."

"I don't love you that much."

"Yes you do."

Yeah, she did. "Then save your energy for the celebration."

Stacie perked up. "Victory sex?"

Aubrey laughed. "You're ridiculous. But I have a conference call now, so I'll see you soon."

"I need a yes or no on that victory sex, Posen." Stacie pressed.

"You're awful. I love you. And I really have to go."

"You owe me victory sex, Aubrey!" Stacie said loudly, just in case Aubrey was already ending the call. She ignored the curious looks her friends threw in her direction. And then, a little more softly, she added, "I love you too."

"I'll call you later." Aubrey said, clearly amused, as she ended the call.

Stacie dropped her phone into her bag, and looked up at her fellow Bellas, who were all still looking at her. "What? She has an apartment, it's not like we're going to have sex in our hotel room." To budget their funds, they had agreed to only get three rooms – since the maximum number of people the hotel allowed to share a room were four – which meant no matter how the arrangements turned out, Stacie would still have to share a room.

There was a moment's pause, before Fat Amy called out, "Not it!" and quickly followed by her fellow Bellas, sans Stacie, with Beca going last.

Beca frowned at Chloe beside her, who hadn't alerted her to what was happening, before muttering to her friends, "You all suck."

Stacie, who had started making her way down the bleachers to start rehearsals, smiled brightly at Beca, and teased, "We'll try to keep quiet, but I can't make any promises; We all know how much Aubrey likes to yell."

Chloe laughed, but Beca only scowled at them. "I hate you both."

Stacie liked to tease, but she had already resolved to avoid having to resort to using the shared hotel room for any private moments with Aubrey; she didn't know what Aubrey's plans were once she was officially unemployed, but she knew for certain that trips to see each other would be greatly diminished – unless Aubrey pulled a Hail Mary miracle – and Stacie wanted to maximize their time together when they had it.

And by maximizing their time together, she definitely meant avoiding any interruptions from the Bellas. Sure, they've been impressively good at not interrupting, but Stacie wasn't risking it, and Beca had already nearly walked in on them once too often.

Besides, Stacie _really_ didn't want Aubrey around Chloe once Denise dropped the bombshell that Aubrey had gotten her a job, and had already agreed to start as soon as her graduation documents were cleared and submitted to the company, consequently negating Chloe's plans for a major tour with the current set of Bellas.

And while Aubrey had insisted that she couldn't get away from work to see the Bellas before the finals, that didn't mean Stacie was willing to wait.

The good-looking guy who answered the door to Aubrey's apartment gave her pause, especially considering he was only wearing a towel. "Um. Hi?"

He looked at her blankly. "Yeah?"

Stacie glanced at the apartment label, confirming it was the right one, before she ventured, "Is Aubrey home?"

He frowned for a bit, trying to figure out a reason for her presence, before understanding set in and his expression cleared. "Oh! You must be the girlfriend! Yeah, hey, come in."

Stacie obediently did just that, but was careful to give him a wide berth. "So is Aubrey…?"

"She and Marti went to pick up dinner." He reported. "She didn't say you were coming over, though."

Stacie quirked an eyebrow. "So you just answer your door like that all the time?"

He laughed. "The only people that Guy lets up without buzzing first are Marti and Dan, and they've both seen me naked."

Stacie frowned. She knew Guy was the doorman of Aubrey's apartment building, Aubrey had introduced him to Stacie when she had first come to visit, but she didn't know what to make of this guy's assertion that people who dropped by the apartment were familiar with his current state of undress. Especially since Aubrey said her roommate was super monogamous with his childhood sweetheart, and Dan didn't particularly ping as gay.

"Me and Dan go to the same gym," he explained, as if reading her mind. "Before he went boho. Anyway, uh, make yourself comfortable, I'm just gonna go put clothes on before this gets more awkward."

"Too late." Stacie's brow wrinkled, and she queried: "People don't come here?"

"We try to avoid it?" He shrugged. "You're the only one who's ever come over with a standing invite, if that helps."

"Just a little."

"I really got to go change now."

"I didn't see you last time I was here." Stacie couldn't help but note. She hadn't been bothered by his absence when she had visited, but she had also wondered on the reasons for it.

He paused in his retreat, and turned back to her. "Aubrey kinda made a big deal about you coming over, and negotiated to make myself scarce."

"It's your apartment."

"And she doesn't ask me for anything, so I figured I owed her." He shrugged, as if to expound on his answer, but he was interrupted by the front door opening, and Aubrey entered with a brown-haired girl in tow.

There was a definite pause as the two new people took in the scene before them – a very attractive girl talking to a half-naked guy, both of whom were dating the newcomers – and it was the brown-haired girl who broke the silence.

"You really need to stop answering your door in a towel," she told him in exasperation.

"You're here!" Aubrey exclaimed, either ignoring or oblivious to her roommate only wearing a towel, and set aside the takeaway food she was carrying to make her way toward Stacie.

"I'm here!" Stacie agreed happily. "And now you are!"

Aubrey shot her a confused look, making Stacie explain, "You said you were heading home, so I figured the time between that text and you getting home. But you weren't here."

"We went to get dinner," Aubrey explained.

"I noticed," Stacie nodded. "I have to leave early tomorrow, though, the Bellas have the stage first thing."

"Dress?"

"And tech."

Aubrey nodded thoughtfully, before she once more cracked a grin and noted, "I can't believe you're here."

"I couldn't wait to see you," Stacie said honestly.

Aubrey couldn't help the goofy grin she was giving Stacie, but she wondered aloud, "Won't the Bellas miss you? Aren't you meeting sponsors tonight, or something?"

"They'll manage," Stacie shrugged. "Sponsors only ever want to talk to Chloe and Beca, anyway."

"Their loss." Aubrey declared. She angled Stacie to face the other people in the room. "Babe, this is Marti, Special Ed teacher and in the running for Most Patient Woman Alive. Marti, this is Stacie, one of your competition for the title."

"Nice to meet you, Stacie. And please feel free to ignore how inept my significant other is."

Stacie smiled, and winked at Aubrey. "I'm used to inept."

"That's not flattering," Aubrey told her.

"I love you." Stacie said quickly, giving Aubrey a bright smile.

Aubrey rolled her eyes, but turned to give Stacie a quick kiss, which Stacie didn't hesitate to deepen, cupping her cheek and pulling Aubrey closer.

"You're aware there are other people in the room," Aubrey's roommate pointed out.

Aubrey broke the kiss with Stacie to glance over and frown at him. "Why are you still not dressed?"

"You were making intros, I didn't know I could leave." He said defensively.

Aubrey turned back to Stacie, and indicated her roommate with a tilt of her head. "And that's Wes."

Stacie had to grin. "Ah. Strange naked guy has a name."

Marti glanced over at her boyfriend. "She's tagged you as Strange Naked Guy. You should get dressed."

He didn't hesitate to follow the instruction, disappearing behind one of the doors and leaving the three women alone.

Marti turned to face Aubrey and Stacie, took one look at them, and declared, "You know what? I think we're gonna leave you guys alone."

"You don't have to do that," Stacie said.

"We can make fun of him," Aubrey agreed. "You don't have to leave."

"I'm going to give him a hard time about making Stacie uncomfortable, it'll be awkward," Marti told them.

"Oh, psh, I'm fine," Stacie dismissed her concern with a wave of her hand. "I've seen a lot of naked people."

"Stacie wouldn't hold back, she'll tell you if she's uncomfortable. Like she said-" Aubrey began before she paused, and turned to frown at Stacie.

Stacie seemed to catch on that she'd just disclosed something not necessarily good, and she smiled weakly at Aubrey. "I love you?"

Aubrey sent her a wry look.

"You guys are cute. But I want to give him a hard time, and can't really do that if I'm going to watch the two of you be cute." Marti admitted. She glanced at her watch, and then at the food she was taking out of the paper bags she and Aubrey had brought in. She pursed her lips.

"You want to take everything?" Aubrey asked.

Stacie tugged on her sleeve.

Aubrey glanced at her, knowing exactly why Stacie was trying to get her attention. "I will cook you dinner."

Stacie grinned, appeased. "I love you."

Marti laughed, and shook her head. "We'll pick something up. You two enjoy."

"What are we picking up?" Wes asked, returning to the group.

"Our dinner."

He glanced at the table full of takeout, confused.

"You've made Stacie uncomfortable, they get the food."

"Oh." He frowned. "Sorry?"

"You should be." Marti smiled at Aubrey and Stacie. "Have a good night, you two."

"We're leaving?" He asked blankly.

"Have fun." Marti told the other women as she steered herself and her boyfriend towards the door. "Use protection."

"We will." Stacie assured her. "And you too. It was nice to meet you, Marti. 'Bye, Strange Naked Guy."

Wes still looked confused even as he and Marti disappeared behind the closed front door.

Stacie waited for a beat after the door closed behind them before she turned to Aubrey. "They're cute."

"We're cuter."

"Oh, definitely." Stacie agreed, wrapping her arms around Aubrey's neck. "But he seems a little without; what could you possibly be working on with him?"

"He invests and develops software and applications." Aubrey told her. She gave Stacie a look of bemusement. "And you're one to talk about people turning out to be more than they appear."

"But I'm special," Stacie pouted stubbornly.

Aubrey smiled, pressing a series of kisses on Stacie's lips until she stopped pouting. "I love you. And I love that you're here."

"Even if I'm ditching Bella duty?"

"Oh, I'm not happy about that," Aubrey shook her head. "But if they let you skip, how can I argue?"

"And there are nine other Bellas." Stacie added.

"Don't push it."

"Okay," Stacie quickly acquiesced. She smiled at Aubrey, and waggled her eyebrows. "So how opposed are you to letting the food get cold?"

Aubrey grinned, which was all the response Stacie really needed.


	56. Chapter 56

She had heard the songs included in the Barden Bellas' finals set before, having been present for rehearsals that weekend before her employer kept her confined to New York; she had even seen the costume, albeit not while it was being worn; and she knew how good the Bellas were.

Aubrey had seen the Bellas perform at the ICCAs the previous year, and had been pleasantly surprised at how much better they had become in her absence, attributing their vast improvement to Chloe's ear for catchy music brilliantly coinciding with Beca's ability to mix genres, as well as the individual contributions of the other Bellas.

And still, she was in awe of their set for the current ICCA finals, tamping down on her envy of how good they had become, the way the group just gelled and made a mockery of calling it a competition.

And, yes, seeing the costume as it was supposed to be worn – and indubitably _very_ well worn by one Stacie Conrad – had Aubrey leaning forward and gripping the arm of her seat tightly.

Beside her, Dan was endlessly amused. "You know you're already dating her."

Aubrey didn't take her eyes off the stage. "It's like she gets hotter each time I see her."

"You're ridiculous."

Aubrey chose to ignore him, that time. But at least Dan understood how important it was to both Aubrey and Stacie for Aubrey to be present at the Lincoln Center for that year's ICCA Finals – and Stacie's awareness of Aubrey's attendance – which was why Aubrey had chosen him to bring along, instead of any of her other friends in the city.

And Dan knew just how ridiculous Aubrey's crush on her girlfriend was, so if Aubrey let out a small whimper when Stacie briefly made a show of pushing up her breasts and winked in their direction before falling back in formation, well, Dan could only pat Aubrey's back in sympathy.

When Aubrey's torture was over, she slumped back in her seat, with a slightly flushed complexion, and turned to look at Dan.

Who grinned back at her. "Need a cigarette?"

He could tell she was trying to glare at him, but the whiplash of the show she'd just endured obviously still lingered in her mind. Instead, she only shook her head.

"I'll admit, I'm kind of getting this whole college a cappella thing now," he allowed.

Aubrey paused, and gave him a sidelong glance.

He caught it, and hazarded, "No hitting on your Bellas?"

"Yes." She emphasized the declaration with the same glare that once had local executives cowering and submitting to her will.

"Okay." He said quickly. He paused for a second before inquiring, "What are we doing on Wednesday?"

Aubrey raised an eyebrow at him.

"Your last day? Are we torching your desk, do you want me to hire a marching band?" Dan suggested. "Seventy-six trombones?"

"I have a meeting in Atlanta on Friday."

"You know you're supposed to dwell on the unemployment a little." Dan remarked.

Aubrey shook her head. "I don't know how it's going to go, but Stacie and I agreed to spend as much time as possible together before their summer tour starts and my job hunting starts in earnest."

Dan rolled his eyes, because he'd been in Aubrey's position before, and he knew exactly how in demand Oversight members were to the competition. "How many offers do you have?"

"Five, but that's not the point."

Dan frowned. "Only five?"

"Only five who are willing to buy out the non-compete."

Dan whistled. He'd had the same number last year, but he had been working in Oversight for at least five years longer than Aubrey. Then again, he hadn't been in as many high-profile projects as his friend. "And?"

"And I don't know," Aubrey admitted. "I don't want to burn too many bridges in leaving. And it's too much a betrayal, I think."

Dan had to agree. So he changed topics. "You could spend a few weeks being a Bella groupie and tag along with your girlfriend on their tour."

"Me and my girlfriend and her nine friends in a bus?" Aubrey said dryly.

"Sounds like fun." He paused, giving it some consideration, and smiled wistfully. "Yeah."

Aubrey hit him with the ICCA program in silent reprimand, which Dan took as a sign that the topic of discussion was closed.

Dan wouldn't say it was a foregone conclusion, but Aubrey clearly had a favorite in the competition, and admittedly, none of the other performers had delivered a set as riveting as the Barden Bellas, so when they were declared winners, well, he wasn't really surprised.

"How awesome were we?" Stacie asked them as she approached, still dressed in her performance costume, grinning brightly and in an obvious state of victory-caused euphoria. Not waiting for an answer, she zeroed in on her girlfriend, and before Aubrey could even begin to formulate a response, had the blonde swept up in an embrace, lips pressed together and hands in borderline inappropriate places.

Dan never grew tired of seeing this entirely new side to Aubrey, whom he had first met when she had joined Oversight as a girl from one of their subsidiaries' management factory, a graduate from some no-name university and somehow got the attention of their leader and Vice-President; whom they had all let sink or swim from the deepest end of the metaphorical pool. She had been cold and calculating, her ambition all but worn on her sleeve; they had all seen the video from that disastrous ICCA Final that should have been Aubrey's ultimate shame, but to their collective horror, Aubrey had simply asked them to consider how she had gone from the girl who threw up all over an audience to a position in a Fortune 500 company's Oversight Committee.

It took a while for Dan to figure her out, for them to become friends and not just coworkers who hung out sometimes, but he knew enough.

So he'd known about the dysfunction of her supposed relationships, and why almost exactly a year ago, with Aubrey facing likely confrontations from two such relationships, and in the wake of a bad week at one of their offices, he had suggested checking out the ICCA Finals at the Lincoln Center.

It had been clear, even then, that she'd missed her former teammates, but Aubrey was a tough nut to crack, and he had watched her more than he had watched the performances; he hadn't known what he had been looking for back then, but it had given him some insight into his new friend.

Because after the whole thing, after she had dodged his suggestion of her catching up with her friends, there had been a steely resolve in her countenance. He hadn't understood it at the time, but in hindsight it must have been the earliest stirrings of an epiphany, or at least some self-reflection.

And she hadn't even needed a near-heart attack to gain that insight.

And it had gotten so much easier to interact with Aubrey and talk to her with her guard down in the past year, ever since she had escaped to Philadelphia and came back to New York with a strange sense of calm that he hadn't figured out at the time.

And then one day she started talking about Stacie.

So it was nice to see Aubrey so obviously smitten and unabashedly affectionate; if maybe a little _too_ affectionate, if the way their little display was quickly escalating.

"Congratulations," Dan said loudly, which seemed to do the trick in interrupting them, if Aubrey's glare and Stacie's look of amusement in his direction were any indication. "I don't know a lot about a cappella, but that was pretty great, Stacie."

"Great?" Stacie repeated, scoffing. "We were awesome. Amazing, even. Or more accurately," she added, grinning at Aubrey, "we were aca-mazing."

Aubrey grinned back, the two of them obviously sharing a joke.

Stacie bit her lip, smiling coyly at Aubrey, and asked, "What are you doing after this?"

The answer, not that Aubrey ever had a real say to the contrary, was celebrating the Bellas' win, pregaming at one of the Bellas' hotel rooms, and then at a club the group somehow managed to get into without getting carded – the benefits, Aubrey supposed, of being champions of an unknown entity as competitive collegiate a cappella – where Amy managed to wrangle them into the VIP lounge and Stacie kept her from glaring too much at the handful of Treblemakers the other Bellas had invited along.

"Stacie," Beca interrupted, a note of hesitation in her voice, "you and Aubrey could maybe tone it down?"

Stacie broke the kiss she'd been sharing with Aubrey and glanced at her, ignoring the chorus of mild complaint around them, and shrugged. "Endorphin overload."

"We could just start charging for the show," Amy suggested.

"Or not," Aubrey replied, frowning at her. She pat Stacie's side. "We have the rest of the night."

Stacie pouted.

"I have to talk to Denise, anyway." Aubrey added. "And I'm getting a real drink; you'll have your usual?"

"Please and thank you," Stacie preened, and pecked Aubrey's lips in a quick kiss before she grabbed Beca's hand and forcibly pulled her to the dance floor, followed almost immediately by Ashley, Amy, Cynthia Rose, Flo and Lilly. Chloe shot a suspicious look in Aubrey's direction before she, too, stood up to join her friends.

After a beat, the Treblemakers seemed to collectively realize they had been left with the Bellas' former terror of a captain and quickly left.

Over the course of the night, whenever she wasn't dancing with Stacie or unsuccessfully trying not to make out too heavily with her, Aubrey kept an eye out on the other Bellas out on the dance floor, and at one point realized that whoever was manning the door wasn't being very discerning in who he let inside, as other members of the other competing a cappella groups had also arrived, and it was almost like one big ICCA soiree.

And she gets it, really, collegiate a cappella was a relatively small world and people tended to become friends, if not friendly acquaintances, over time.

Still, though, she realized belatedly that she wished she'd brought Dan along for the party, because he was one of only two other people who knew she had been at the ICCA finals the previous year, and he had been with her for every second of last year's experience.

Because as the Bellas mingled with their defeated competitors, one guy sidled up to Stacie and started chatting her up.

And Stacie, who was overly friendly and easily defaulted to flirty banter around people, seemed to be completely unaware of who she was talking to.

And that was true, for about a minute or two, until the realization sank in and Stacie quickly ducked out of the conversation, making it as clear as she possibly could that she wasn't looking for a repeat of their flirtation last year. She wished she had an eidetic memory, to avoid the situation she had just escaped, but that just wasn't in her wheelhouse and she wished she didn't have to worry when Aubrey wasn't at the couch where the Bellas had been hanging out.

Stacie frowned, and glanced around the club, hoping to catch sight of her girlfriend, except the place wasn't the most well-lit, and there were too many blondes in the room. She turned to Jessica, who didn't seem inclined to join the dancing, and was happily sipping on her drink. "Where did Aubrey go?"

Jessica pointed in the direction of the bar. "She went to talk to someone."

Stacie reined in her jealousy, careful not to jump to conclusions, because, 1) if Jessica was being accurate, Aubrey had just gone to talk to someone, and 2) Stacie had just been doing the same thing, and a mere twelve months ago Stacie had actually slept with the guy she'd just been talking to/kind of flirting with, so she had to give Aubrey the same benefit of doubt she really hoped Aubrey would be giving her.

Besides, she needed to refill her drink, so she had totally valid reasons to look for the bar.

Once she caught sight of Aubrey, though, Stacie had to tamp down on her jealousy some more, because Aubrey was engaged in a conversation with a woman who wore an indecently-tight red dress that left little to the imagination, and Stacie could tell, from Aubrey's posture and the way she was carrying herself, that this was not some simple casual conversation.

Stacie watched as Aubrey handed the woman her card, while the woman took a napkin from the bar and wrote down something before handing it to Aubrey.

Benefit of the doubt. Benefit of the doubt.

"Who was that?" Stacie demanded, the minute the woman left Aubrey at the bar.

"Well, Lisa owns the bar," Aubrey told her, and then showed Stacie the napkin with the number written on it. "We haven't seen each other in a while, and we agreed to be better at keeping in touch."

Stacie arched an eyebrow at Aubrey, waiting for further explanation.

"We used to hang out – or at least run in the same social circles together - until she went to rehab and I started dating a former intern."

"That label, again."

"The circles I hang out in? They understand the implications of just what it means that I'm actually dating, and not just randomly hooking up with, an intern." Aubrey explained.

"Okay, fine, but what did she want?" Stacie asked sharply, glancing in the direction 'Lisa' had disappeared to. d

Aubrey smiled, recognizing the signs of jealousy easily. "She gave me an open invitation to this bar and the restaurant her dad owns."

Stacie arched an eyebrow. "Did she miss the part where you're dating someone?"

Aubrey rolled her eyes. Stacie wanted to play the jealousy card? She could do that, too. "You want to tell me why you were flirting with the guy from Berkeley?"

Stacie's cheeks flamed, having momentarily forgotten her split-second (two-minute) indiscretion, and hastened to explain, "I didn't recognize him. I know, I shouldn't be flirty with people not named Aubrey Posen, but it's just easier, they don't ask too many questions or make stupid comments about threesomes – don't murder anyone – and honestly it's just reflex now, but I can stop, I guess, if you really want me to… Not that I'm saying you're trying to change me! I just mean, I don't want to give you a reason to be, I don't know, mad or pissed that I'm flirting with total randos, but it doesn't mean anything, I swear, I just-"

"Go out with me tomorrow night?" Aubrey cut her off, slightly amused, but also wanting to end Stacie's self-recriminating stream of thought.

"What?"

"I'm asking you out on a date." Aubrey explained.

"But my accidental flirting…"

"Was accidental, I know. I was just giving you a hard time." Aubrey reassured her.

"Baby, you're being very confusing right now," Stacie said, glad for the reprieve but feeling slightly petulant.

"I know you're a flirt, Stacie. It's part of why people are so easily drawn to you." Aubrey replied. "I don't think you even realize normal conversations with you can sound like flirting sometimes."

"No it doesn't."

"Babe, I love you, but you can crank your charm up to eleven without missing a beat."

Stacie frowned. "You say that, but I was flirting with you for a year and you didn't notice."

Aubrey had to laugh as she reassured Stacie, "Oh, I noticed. I didn't know how to do anything about it, and it caused a few restless nights, but trust me when I tell you: I noticed."

Stacie pouted.

"Stop pouting, I'm asking you out on a date." Aubrey reminded. "Actually, everything's set, so I'm really actually telling you we have a date tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Stacie echoed.

"We have a reservation at six. I'll pick you up."

Stacie paused, and hazarded, "But… I'm spending the night with you, right?" She bit her lip. "I'm still getting victory sex?"

Aubrey smiled at her. "I have to do something at the office tomorrow, so I'm going to have to pick you up for the date."

Stacie let that sink in, and she realized Aubrey was trying to follow through on a promise she'd made previously about setting up a date when the Bellas made it to New York. She grinned. "I'd love to go out on a date with you."

Aubrey beamed, and buoyed with optimism, asked: "Want to get out of here?"

Stacie nodded eagerly.


	57. Chapter 57

When the driver she'd hired to pick Stacie up at her hotel sent her a text message saying she should start thinking about changing her plans, Aubrey briefly wondered what was wrong with the guy Dan had recommended in his stead, but didn't have time to really ponder over it until the car arrived and she understood.

Because crammed into the car were ten Barden Bellas, making Aubrey frown.

Stacie turned to her friends, ordering them to "stay in the car" as she got out of the vehicle, closing the door behind her and quickly attempted to broker a truce with her easily-irate girlfriend. "I can explain."

Aubrey speechlessly turned to face her, confused as to why their date suddenly included the other Bellas.

"It's just, we haven't really gotten to go around the City, and we're leaving tomorrow, but now there's a car, and you live here, and they liked hanging out with you last night, plus we're celebrating a third straight win…" Stacie let her voice trail off, biting her lower lip and looking at Aubrey hopefully.

Aubrey sighed in resignation, nodding to indicate her understanding and acceptance of what Stacie was telling her. But she also kind of wanted to cry, because getting a reservation at the restaurant she'd chosen was near-impossible but she had managed it, and she had been lucky to see Lisa the night before, and had been able to call in a favor to get a good table.

Not for nothing, but she'd planned a pretty awesome date.

All for naught, apparently, because the Bellas were a tight-knit group.

She loved the Bellas, really, but not so much at the moment.

When Aubrey didn't say anything right away, Stacie looked to the side, hoping to find the words to make it up to Aubrey, and her eyes widened when she saw the upscale restaurant they were standing in front of. "Holy shit." She turned back to Aubrey, still wide-eyed. She tilted her head to the side, indicating the restaurant. "Holy shit." She took a beat, and offered: "I'll get rid of them."

"No," Aubrey said quickly, because she was disappointed, but she wasn't a jerk. Or, probably, not that much of one. "No, I'll…" She sighed. "I can change our plans."

"Are you sure? Because you kinda look like you want to cry." Stacie said softly.

She was, on both counts, and Aubrey could only smile weakly. "It's fine."

"It's not." Stacie said sadly, feeling the disappointment coming off Aubrey in waves, but she didn't know what to do. After all, she had been the one to demand this very date, and now she was also the one who couldn't say no to the Bellas, not after Chloe had given her a full-impact gaze Stacie could only define as "Disney eyes" – wide and full of hope.

Aubrey sighed again, and motioned to the restaurant host. "I'm just going to go, cancel our reservation."

"Aubrey…"

"Stace, it's fine. I get it." Aubrey assured her.

Stacie was sure Aubrey understood, she just wasn't sure it was fine.

"They like Italian, right?" Aubrey asked, phone already in hand and searching through her contacts as she turned towards the restaurant doors. "Everyone eats pizza, so they're obviously not allergic to gluten or dairy."

"Aubrey."

Aubrey looked up at her, and Stacie took the opportunity to kiss her softly.

"I'm sorry." Stacie whispered, gently tucking a lock of hair behind Aubrey's ear. She bit her lip, realizing Aubrey had her hair tied in an intricate braid, indicating she hadn't been spending the entire time since they separated that morning finishing up things at the office. "I promise to make it up to you."

Aubrey gave her a wan smile. "You're gonna pay for dinner?"

"Baby, you know I can't do that for you yet." Stacie returned, falling into step with Aubrey as they walked towards the restaurant. "It'll probably be through sex."

Aubrey's smile grew more genuine at that one. "I was probably gonna get that, anyway."

Stacie smiled back, feeling a little less guilty with the sight of Aubrey's smile. "You don't know. Maybe it'll be pretty awesome sex."

Aubrey gave her a look, as if to say, she still didn't see how it would be anything different from their usual.

"Let me think about it." Stacie said, stopping a few steps away from the entrance while Aubrey went to talk to the girl at the host's podium.

The Barden Bellas, to their credit, seemed to catch on quickly (but not soon enough) that they had crashed Stacie's date with Aubrey, and were on their best behavior in the car, speaking in subdued voices (for them), not saying anything when the tight fit in the car made Stacie practically sit on Aubrey's lap, and even falling silent when Aubrey took a call to coordinate with someone their change of venue. Since Aubrey wasn't inclined to talk to any of the Bellas at the moment, staying focused on her phone, Stacie preoccupied herself by idly playing with the different buttons on a panel by their seat.

Stacie felt her phone buzz, and she checked it to find a message from Beca, asking: _Is she mad?_

Stacie glanced up to meet Beca's gaze, and she could only smile weakly, because maybe Aubrey wasn't necessarily angry, but she wasn't about to push her luck with Aubrey's disappointment.

Beca bit her lip, and glanced around the car, obviously trying to come up with a way to keep Aubrey from being completely annoyed.

The restaurant they ended up in wasn't nearly at the same level as the one they had left, but there was a more relaxed, even homey, feel to the environment and interior. Very few of the tables were occupied, though, making Stacie look questioningly at Aubrey.

"Technically, they're not open yet," Aubrey admitted. "They did a soft opening a month ago, but they retooled their menu; the past few weeks Teddy's just been inviting people over to check out the food."

"Who's Teddy?"

'Teddy', it turned out, was a cheerful man who greeted Aubrey and a loud exclamation of "My love! You have returned to me!"

Aubrey rolled her eyes, but grinned as she walked up to him and returned his exuberant hug. "Theodore."

He grinned back, and smiled at the girls behind his friend. "Aubrey friends! Hello!"

Aubrey frowned at him. "Are you drunk?"

"My uncle sent me a few cases from his vineyard." He admitted. "We've been having a wine tasting."

"And you didn't invite me?" Aubrey asked in mock offense.

"I'm sorry, was I your first choice for tonight's dining experience?" He retorted haughtily. "You're lucky I'm letting you join the wine tasting."

Amy raised her hand, "I'd like to—"

"No." Aubrey, Beca and Stacie all told her, making Amy frown.

Teddy indicated a long table nearby. "Sit. We'll be serving tonight's meal in a few minutes."

"You said to hurry!" Aubrey accused, stepping aside to let the Bellas take their seats.

"I will limit your garlic bread, Posen, I swear to God." He shot back. He gave each Bella a cursory glance, as if placing names to faces, until he got to Stacie. He pointed at her as he asked Aubrey, "this is the one who stole you from me?"

Aubrey smiled at him as she pulled Stacie to her side. "Isn't she pretty?"

Teddy smiled at Stacie, holding out his hand. "I'm Teddy. I once taught Aubrey in a culinary class."

"I was wondering." Stacie admitted.

"I hope you don't mind the jokes, it used to be the easiest way to annoy her." Teddy said.

Stacie smiled at him. "As long as we're clear that she's mine."

"As if anyone would be mistaken otherwise." Teddy replied. He turned to Aubrey. "Red?"

"Please."

He glanced at Stacie.

"No." Aubrey told him.

Stacie pouted.

"Minor." Aubrey informed Teddy.

"Ignore her." Stacie requested.

"You're beautiful, but I can't go against the wishes of an investor." Teddy told Stacie. "Have a seat, ladies, and please don't forget to compliment the chef."

"Tip the servers." Aubrey corrected.

"Whatever." He quipped, before he disappeared back behind the kitchen doors.

"Did he just say you're an investor?" Chloe asked as Aubrey and Stacie took their seats.

"Yes." Aubrey replied. "It's not a big deal, there's a lot of us."

"Yeah, but that's fancy adult stuff." Jessica noted.

Aubrey shrugged. "He's a friend and his business plan was good. Plus, this way I can get a table for good food anytime I want."

Stacie quirked an eyebrow at her. "Did you write his business plan?"

"Of course I did." Aubrey said breezily.

"Does everyone who work for your company get made out of money?" Cynthia Rose asked. She turned and gave Denise what was supposed to be a seductive grin. "Because _girl_ , you're looking fine tonight."

Denise pretended to be enamored for all of a second before she dropped the pretense and glared at her. "No."

There was a shared round of laughter, but Chloe suddenly stopped short and frowned. "Wait, what?"

"Garlic bread!" Beca yelled out suddenly, with far more enthusiasm than was absolutely necessary for pastry. To her credit, though, two people had emerged from the kitchen carrying baskets of bread, and between finally getting to eat and placing their drink orders, it was just about all the distraction the Bellas needed.

Aubrey was trying her hardest not to let her disappointment over her planned date affect her happiness at hanging out with the Bellas, but in one unguarded moment, she noticed what Stacie was wearing, taking in the choker top that called attention to her neck and the low neckline that teased more than what would be commonly deemed appropriate, and almost wanted to start crying again.

When Stacie took her hand under the table and away from prying eyes, it took all of her self-control to resist the way Stacie led her hand, and pull her wrist away from the hemline of Stacie's short skirt.

And made it a point to keep their joined hands on top of the table.

At one point, Aubrey excused herself from the table, purportedly to join Teddy in the kitchen for the supposed wine-tasting, but when Beca went outside to take a phone call from Jesse – apparently the Trebles wanted to go out again and he was wondering where the Bellas were hanging out – she found Aubrey on the phone, telling someone to give something up for lottery.

Beca hesitated, unsure on just how Aubrey would react to her at any given moment and surely having her date ruined by the Bellas would put Aubrey in a bad mood, but before she could decide either way, Aubrey turned, and saw her. Beca smiled weakly. "Hey."

Aubrey glanced at her, furrowed her brow, and glanced in the direction of the door of the restaurant. "Are they serving dessert already?"

"No, I," Beca lifted her phone, "I took a call."

Aubrey nodded, looking down at her phone and sighing, shoulders sagging.

"Look, I'm sorry about this whole crashing-your-date thing," Beca said quickly. "I guess we just assumed… Actually, I don't know what we assumed, but I didn't realize it would be uncool to just…"

Aubrey waved her hand, dismissing the apology. "Don't worry about it."

Beca shrugged. "Comes with the territory of being captain, right? The worrying?"

Aubrey chuckled wryly. "At least nobody's being a thorn in your side about your song selection."

Beca rolled her eyes. "I know; I'm sorry, OK? But you were your own brand of pain in the ass, too."

Aubrey smiled, letting the rejoinder pass without remark, and focused on the discussion at hand. "It's the Bellas, though. And according to Stacie, it was Amy and Chloe who insisted, and-"

"Nobody says no to Chloe," Beca finished with her, conceding that point.

Aubrey nodded. "And it's not like Stacie and I would have been above ditching the Bellas if we really wanted to get rid of you tonight." She blew out a breath. "It sucks, but plans get changed for a reason, right?"

As someone who had originally planned to ditch the Bellas at the first opportunity in favor of abandoning college to pursue her dreams of moving to Los Angeles, Beca could concede that sometimes, plans changing ultimately worked out for the best.

She just wasn't sure if that applied to their current situation.

She pointed at Aubrey's phone. "More changed plans, I guess?"

Aubrey smiled wryly. "She told me that when she's here for the ICCAs I should set her up with dinner and a show."

Beca sucked in a breath, wincing. She'd noticed Aubrey checking her watch and phone through most of dinner, but it hadn't even occurred to her that there had been more to Aubrey and Stacie's date than just the meal. "Shit, I'm sorry."

"It's done," Aubrey replied. She shrugged. "But since this date's a bust, was there anything the Bellas wanted to see in New York? It's short notice, but a few people owe me favors."

Beca opened her mouth, as if she had an answer ready to go, but instead she snapped her mouth shut, and looked down briefly before looking back up at Aubrey. "You got Denise a job?"

"Yes." Aubrey blew out a breath. "She didn't tell you?"

"She's been extra-obvious about graduation, but she didn't say anything."

"She wasn't going to tell Chloe until after the ICCAs."

Beca closed her eyes briefly, nodding to indicate her understanding of Denise's logic, as conveyed by Aubrey. She also knew why the few people who were aware of this development kept it under wraps. "Chloe's going to have a fit."

"And before you ask, Denise asked me to." Aubrey said defensively.

"And you just happened to know how to make that happen?" Beca asked skeptically.

Aubrey looked at her, confused. "That's kind of part of my job…?"

Beca paused, and smiled weakly. "Oh. I didn't know that."

Aubrey looked away briefly, and then turned back to Beca. "What are we going to do about Chloe?"

Beca grimaced, which wasn't a very good start in terms of coming up with a plan.

By the time they were all piling back into the car, two things were immediately obvious to Stacie: one, the Bellas showed no signs of leaving her and Aubrey alone; and two, Aubrey had indulged in the wine tasting Teddy had invited her to, the redness to her cheeks the most telltale sign.

Aubrey didn't get drunk easily, and she tried to limit her intake to one glass when she was out with Stacie, so Stacie could only surmise that the Bellas crashing their date had contributed to the amount of wine Aubrey had imbibed.

Stacie frowned at Aubrey. "Are you drunk?"

"Not enough." Aubrey admitted, sipping from a bottle of water Teddy had given her as they had left the restaurant. At Stacie's raised eyebrow, Aubrey explained her answer: "Didn't you hear? We're meeting the Trebles at the same club we went to last night."

No, Stacie _had_ heard that. She'd also heard Teddy asking Aubrey why the Bellas didn't know better than to show up at the same club for two straight nights, but that was neither here nor there.

But Stacie was worried that Aubrey, already disappointed by how the night had turned out, would evolve into full-blown disgruntlement, and, well, aca-dictator Aubrey Posen still sometimes haunted Stacie's nightmares when she knew she was being belligerent about something.

When they got to the club – the black town car definitely helped dispel some of the questionable nature inherent in going to the same club for two straight nights – Stacie held Aubrey back to let the other Bellas out first, telling her to finish drinking water.

When the last of them stepped out, Stacie promptly closed the door behind Ashley and pressed the button to lock all the doors. She ignored the look of confusion she could see on her friends' faces through the tinted windows, and told the driver to go.

"What—"

Stacie cut off Aubrey's confused inquiry by straddling her lap and kissing her deeply.

When they parted, Aubrey blinked up at her.

Stacie smiled at her, and called over her shoulder, "Hey, dude? I'll give you an extra fifty bucks to drive slowly."

"Yes, ma'am."

Stacie smiled triumphantly, finding the button that raised the blackout partition between the driver and the back of the car.

Aubrey furrowed her brow. "You know New York traffic is notorious for a reason."

Stacie rolled her eyes, and kissed her again. "Thank you for letting the Bellas crash our date."

"Just so we're clear, next time they crash our date, they're paying for their meal." Aubrey grumbled.

Stacie laughed. "Deal."


	58. Chapter 58

"Where are you, right now?"

Aubrey frowned, hesitating from exiting the car she was in, and sat back to look out the window at the front of the Barden Bellas' house. Hesitantly, she answered her girlfriend, "Um, outside?"

"You're the blue car creeping outside?"

"Yes?"

"Has anyone seen you?"

"Um…" Aubrey glanced around, and except for the stray Barden student heading to their own campus housing, she didn't see anyone familiar. It was pretty quiet, even for a week night. "…No?"

"Okay." Stacie said simply before abruptly hanging up.

Aubrey paused, unsure of what she was supposed to do with such a bizarre phone call, when she noticed the front door of the Bellas' house open and Stacie all but ran out, pushing Aubrey further back inside the car, and she could only look on bewildered as Stacie gave the driver directions.

Seemingly content with their escape, Stacie turned back to Aubrey, smiling brightly. "Hi."

"Hi…?" Aubrey asked faintly. She took note of the fact that Stacie was wearing a coat, buttoned high, despite the spring Atlanta weather. "What…"

"I'll explain later." Stacie promised. She patted Aubrey's knee. "So? How have you been? How's the absence of work? Did your boss cry? Have you gone to see George?"

She had no idea what was going on, but Aubrey could take a hint, answering Stacie's questions. "I'm okay, It's been weird, she gave me a book about the empowerment in making your own mistakes, and I'm not allowed to see George."

"What? And your boss gave you what?"

Aubrey shook her head. "Long story. But how about you?"

Stacie gave her a long, discerning look, before she shrugged, allowing Aubrey this momentary reprieve. "I'm set for finals, and if I ace everything I'm guaranteed to be back on the Dean's List; and on the Bellas side, everyone's worked out a schedule for our summer tour, so that's something to look forward to."

Aubrey nodded.

Stacie gave her a hopeful smile. "It'll be traveling mostly in a bus and there'll be a bunch of other girls, but you wanna join us on our summer tour?"

"You, me, and eight other girls. So much fun." Aubrey said dryly.

"Eight?" Stacie repeated before she paused, and then groaned loudly. "Shit. Denise still hasn't told Chloe."

"The clues haven't exactly been subtle," Aubrey pointed out.

"Yes, but it's Denise, and with Chloe you can never underestimate the power of denial," Stacie argued.

Aubrey conceded that point. "You want me to ask someone to hand-deliver her employment contract to the house, so she'll have to tell Chloe? I should still have some pull somewhere."

Stacie had to laugh at such a drastic plan. "That would be amusing, but it's Chloe, so maybe a more gentle approach will be better." She pointed out. "But let's stick a pin on your plan." She glanced out the window, and gave the driver additional directions.

Aubrey frowned. "Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise."

Aubrey looked at her, but Stacie only returned her look with a guileless smile. Aubrey sighed, conceding defeat, and sat back into the car seat.

"Oh, I haven't told you the best part about the tour," Stacie said, grinning. "We're not starting until late, so I have a few weeks for the start of summer to plan."

"I don't see how—"

"So we can do, like, Cabo, and make up for that time we were supposed to go." Stacie continued. "Or we can go on a road trip. Or, and I'm just saying it'd be awesome if we can all wrangle it, you can pretend like you're still in college and lacking in responsibilities and the Bellas can all go somewhere and party."

"I'd love to take a vacation with you, Stacie, but I _am_ unemployed, and between the finances and trying to not be unemployed, I can't just blow off my responsibilities," Aubrey pointed out.

"Aubrey, I'm not saying we have to do any of that," Stacie interjected. "We can do whatever."

Aubrey sighed. "You say that, but I've been in college, and we both know you're gonna want to spend your break with your friends."

"No, I mean, yeah, of course I love spending time with the Bellas, but what matters most to me is that I'm hoping I'm gonna get to spend some time with you, too. And if it's you _and_ the Bellas, even better."

"Have you noticed how, whenever I hang out with you and the other Bellas, I almost always seem to pay for everything?" Aubrey observed dryly.

Stacie's expression momentarily crumbled, but she put her game face on. "That doesn't have to be true."

"But you agree it happens." Aubrey pointed out.

Stacie sighed. "Why are you so against this? Aubrey, I don't want to fight."

"We're not fighting." Aubrey argued.

"But we could be, because I'll have to take the side of the undergraduate and the unemployed." Stacie countered.

Aubrey frowned, the honesty in that assertion striking a chord; as much as she wanted to explore her point, she nonetheless acquiesced, because it wasn't worth the aggravation of fighting with Stacie when their night had barely started.

An awkward silence followed, until Stacie broke it by asking, "Why aren't you allowed to see George?"

"Because my mom thinks I'm going to use him as an excuse to just move in with my grandparents and get some random job." Aubrey related.

"Has she _met_ you?" Stacie asked incredulously. Aubrey, however, didn't answer, only giving Stacie a look that Stacie couldn't quite discern, but before she could press the issue, she noticed where they were and instructed the driver where to drop them off.

Aubrey glanced outside at the mid-sized home, with only a single porch light on, and had to ask: "Where are we?"

Stacie handed the driver some additional cash after he ended Aubrey's ride. She turned to Aubrey, grabbing her hand as she pushed the car door open. "Come on."

They were in the suburbs, that much Aubrey could figure out, although she had no idea how or why Stacie had access to a house in the suburbs in a college town, or what they were doing there. Still, she didn't ask questions when Stacie produced a key and opened the front door, pulling her inside.

Inside, the house looked lived-in, which is why Aubrey finally broke her silence and asked, "Whose house is this?"

"Technically, it belongs to a Smith family, but they don't live here anymore." Stacie answered as she led her into the dining room. "The current owners – the Smiths – have it up for sale, because they've moved to another state and they have a fully-furnished home waiting for them there, so all their stuff stays with the house."

"Why do you know all that and we're here how?"

"Their kid's one of the people in my research group. I asked if I could use it for a night, and he said sure." Stacie wrinkled her nose in distaste as she recalled something related. "He kinda implied that if it's for sex reasons I should do it on his bed, so it's safe to say we're not having sex in any of the bedrooms."

"I have no idea what to say to any of that."

"We could probably do it anywhere else," Stacie mused, glancing over her shoulder in the direction of the living room. She wondered if the couch there was comfortable.

Aubrey shook her head. "And while I won't say no to any opportunity to have sex with you, I'm still concerned about why we're here."

"Aww," Stacie smiled at her, ignoring for the moment Aubrey's expressed reservations about their location and pulling Aubrey close, wrapping her arms around Aubrey's waist. "I'll have sex with you whenever you want, babe."

"Stacie."

Stacie rolled her eyes, releasing Aubrey and playfully pushing her away. "Fine. I needed an oven and the jerks at The Poisoner are too busy mastering their craft for finals and won't let me use any of their kitchens."

"An oven?" Aubrey asked, because while she had a few other questions about Stacie's statement, she hoped she picked up the most relevant one. "Why…"

"For the cookies."

"The…" Aubrey was confused. "What?"

"Can you just relax and let me woo you? I've got my domestic seduction skills going, here."

That, at least, got Aubrey to laugh, and subsequently let some tension go. "Your what?"

"You know," Stacie nodded her head slowly, as if to urge Aubrey on. "Cozy home, a comfort meal, some cookies…"

Aubrey grinned. "Are you being serious right now?"

"How'd my psychotic captain during my first year as a Bella put it?" Stacie mused, pretending to try to recall. "Dixie Chicks serious?"

"What, did you cook?" Aubrey mused.

"Keep laughing, blondie, and see if I'm gonna give you any cookies at the end of the night," Stacie warned.

Aubrey bit her lip, trying to stifle her amusement. "Is that a metaphor, or…"

"Oh my god, shut up, sit down, I'm gonna get the food." Stacie motioned to the table, and started to walk in the direction of the kitchen.

Aubrey caught her arm, and pulled her back towards herself, her smile going from amused to fond as she drew Stacie closer. "I still don't completely understand what's happening here, but whatever it is, you obviously gave it a lot of thought and effort. Thank you."

Stacie smiled back, and let Aubrey peck her lips a few times before she slowly allowed herself to start kissing Aubrey back. She hummed softly, smiling into their kiss. "You just want your metaphorical cookies."

Aubrey chuckled. "Obviously."

"I'd suggest ditching dinner, but I put in some pretty decent effort into all of this," Stacie admitted, kissing Aubrey one last time before she put some distance between them, directing Aubrey to the dining table.

Aubrey did as requested, and noticed for the first time the table setting for two, complete with electric "candle" lights to finish the look. She smiled in amusement, but was still completely endeared by the fact that Stacie had gone through so much trouble to create a mood.

It suddenly occurred to her that she had never seen or recalled Stacie ever cooking, and started to stand to make her way to the kitchen in case Stacie needed help, but she was preempted by the door to the kitchen opening and Stacie walked back into the room, and while Aubrey had to admit that whatever Stacie had in store in terms of food smelled good, her attention was instead diverted to what Stacie was wearing.

She was pretty sure a chef's jacket wasn't supposed to fit that tightly, or have a neckline that low, or, despite its length, be worn without the uniform checkered pants.

"What…" Aubrey started, but had no idea how to continue her sentence. She's almost certain her brain had short-circuited at one point and was not fully operational.

"I'm heating up the food, because, well…" Stacie shrugged. "Full disclosure: I was gonna go with sushi, but you wouldn't say what time you expected to show, and nobody likes old sushi, so I thought I could go with something safe- I mean, simpler." Stacie quickly corrected herself, which was just the right thing to say to get Aubrey's brain to jumpstart.

"Okay…?"

"But, well," Stacie smiled sheepishly, "I can't cook. I _was_ going to bribe any of the culinary arts people to help me, but that wasn't an option, so I got us some stuff from that Greek place you like."

Aubrey couldn't help but laugh at her girlfriend's sheepish expression. She reached out, and took one of Stacie's hands into her own. "And what could I possibly have done to deserve this amount of effort?"

Stacie gazed at her for a moment, enjoying the sight of a carefree Aubrey, before she admitted, "I wanted to do something nice for you."

Aubrey's mirth settled at the earnest confession, and she returned Stacie's gaze with a confused one of her own. "Okay?"

Stacie looked away, avoiding Aubrey's gaze. "I just…" She looked at their joined hands on the table, and blew out a breath. "I screwed up, back in New York. That was our date, and I let the Bellas hijack it, and I didn't try hard enough to stop it when I knew you weren't happy about it."

"Stacie…"

"And I know this isn't exactly some fancy restaurant, and don't get me started with how much Broadway shows cost, so this probably pales in comparison to what you had in store after the ICCAs," Stacie continued, before taking a deep breath and turning back to Aubrey. "But I have Greek takeout and a Netflix account; and aside from the fact that I needed an oven, I wanted us to go somewhere that isn't a hotel room. And away from the Bellas."

"I like hanging out with the Bellas," Aubrey assured her.

"You say that, but you can't possibly like how we make you pay for stuff and ruin your plans," Stacie argued.

"It's not how I'd like to spend our time together, true," Aubrey conceded, "but they're your friends, and I like the idea that I get to make up for what I put everyone through two years ago."

"That may be true, but I've kinda been missing just having you to myself," Stacie admitted.

Aubrey smiled. "This is a really sweet gesture, Stace. And one of the nicest things anyone's ever done for me."

Stacie beamed. "Yeah?"

Aubrey nodded.

Stacie grinned, and leaned forward to give Aubrey a quick kiss. "I'm gonna get the food."

She stood up, and Aubrey got another view of her outfit. "Do I want to know why you have a skintight version of a chef's jacket?"

Stacie's grin turned mischievous, and she winked at Aubrey. "I can't afford Broadway, but I can still give you a show."


	59. Chapter 59

She will say this.

Score one for domestic seduction skills. And bonus points for manipulation-by-cookie, because Stacie had scored herself a definite invitation to spending time with Aubrey over the summer, regardless of where Aubrey was likely to end up when Barden's summer vacation officially started.

Stacie smiled in smug satisfaction, and hid her face into Aubrey's hair even as she pulled the other girl closer. "Good morning."

"Your phone's been ringing." Came the half-asleep grumble in return.

Stacie whined in complaint. "Your pillow talk is terrible."

"Babe, your phone's been ringing." Aubrey said in reply.

Stacie couldn't help but chuckle, even as she allowed, "Only slightly better."

It was at least mid-morning, Stacie could surmise from the sunlight streaming into Aubrey's hotel room, and she was considering what she needed to do for the weekend and how much she of it she could postpone in favor of spending more time with Aubrey. "So what's the plan for today?"

"Sleep." Aubrey mumbled. After a beat, she added, "Unless you have better ideas of how to stay in bed."

Stacie grinned. "I love my influence on you."

"I bet you do."

Stacie was about to ask about breakfast but she was cut off by her phone rattling on the bedside table on Aubrey's side of the bed, making Stacie lift her head to look at it curiously while Aubrey had to ask: "Is it too early to tease you about having your phone on vibrate?"

"I love you too." Stacie replied flatly, reaching out for her phone and checking the screen. It was an incoming message, and she frowned as she scrolled through her phone and message history to find multiple calls from Jessica, Ashley, Beca, Cynthia Rose and Chloe. "Weird."

On second thought, she had sneaked out the night before to avoid having to "share" Aubrey with the rest of the Bellas, and in retrospect she can't remember if she'd told anyone that she was going out. And staying out.

At the very least, the current message from Beca was telling. "You have to go with me to the house."

"Sleep." Aubrey reminded.

"Beca says Chloe said you have to show."

Aubrey grumbled in response. After a moment, she asked: "Does she enjoy being kicked out of her room that much?"

"I don't _kick_ her out," Stacie denied, which earned her an over-the-shoulder look of skepticism from Aubrey. She amended, "I lock her out and/or ask her very nicely, like a good college roommate."

"Okay," Aubrey said dryly, turning back away from Stacie and burrowing into her pillow. "I will say no to the invitation, thank you."

Stacie shrugged, and sent a text message echoing Aubrey's response to Beca. "I wonder how they knew you were in town, though." Especially since she'd made the very deliberate choice to keep Aubrey's visit to Georgia a secret from the Bellas, at least until she'd made up for their failed date back in New York after the ICCA Nationals.

Sure, she was glad the girls had mellowed out about having Aubrey around and they have actually started to look forward to having her around, but she was going to have to start being more discerning about when and how she and Aubrey would be spending time with the Bellas. Last night was a prime example.

Which, okay, she probably should have told _someone_. Like Jessica or Ashley, who were usually so overlooked the other Bellas would probably neglect to ask them about Stacie's whereabouts.

Or who she was with.

Again, how did they know?

Beside her, Aubrey paused, and turned to face Stacie fully. "You're kidding, right?"

Stacie gave her a blank look.

"You were out all night and spent the night outside of the house; I'd be more concerned if their first conclusion _wasn't_ you spending the night with your visiting girlfriend." Aubrey pointed out.

Stacie looked at her for a long moment before she closed her eyes in understanding, inwardly berating herself for not thinking of that rationale, before she opened them and smiling weakly at Aubrey. "I love you?"

Aubrey smiled in bemusement. "Why do you have to be there?"

"I don't—" Stacie was once more interrupted by her phone. She glanced at the text message. "Well, there you go. Chloe says you have to go to the house." She didn't even need to look away from her phone and turn to Aubrey to know there was more of a pause now that it had been a directive from Chloe. She did, however, offer: "Do you want me to call Chloe?"

"No." Aubrey said quickly, suddenly feeling very tired, because she knew exactly what Chloe would want to talk about, and it had nothing to do about the number of times she and Stacie have kept Chloe from the room she and Stacie shared. Because with graduation just around the corner, that meant Denise had officially run out of time to tell Chloe about her new job and that new job's start date, and how that start date would prevent the graduating senior from joining the Bellas on their summer tour.

So much for the afterglow.

Stacie glanced at Aubrey, noticed her expression, and ventured a guess on her apprehension. "Denise?"

"I guess."

Stacie sent out a message to Beca – if anyone could talk Chloe down to a calmer state, it would be Beca – before tossing her phone back onto the bedside table. She smiled at Aubrey. "It can't be that bad, right?"

Aubrey gave her a wry look. "Chloe hasn't been graduating partly because she doesn't want to leave the Bellas. She won't say it, but just like how I resent her for staying in Barden, she kind of resents me for leaving. How do you think she'll feel about me deliberately helping one of the Bellas to leave?"

Stacie conceded that point, but couldn't help but note, "Your shit with your best friend is weird."

"It's like having served together in armed combat," Aubrey pointed out. "Like my dad always said, when you've served together, you're brothers for life with someone who lost their life or limb for you."

Stacie's expression wrinkled first, and then realized: "That's a very short brotherhood for those who didn't lose a limb."

"I tried not to think about that part too hard," Aubrey admitted.

Stacie shook her head, and mused out loud: "This puts a new twist to being 'Bellas for life'."

"If you're about to say something about us being Bella sisters, I'm going to have to start being more withholding."

Stacie snorted in skepticism. "This is you over-sharing?"

"Yes, and that means I'm not sharing any more of your manipulative cookies."

Stacie pouted. "Operative word being they're mine. _I_ made those cookies."

"And you made them for me, so," Aubrey shrugged.

Stacie arched an eyebrow, and then smirked as she moved closer to Aubrey, "But I like you better when you're being generous."

Despite herself, Aubrey smiled as Stacie pressed a kiss to her lips, "I bet you do." She kissed Stacie a few more times before she voiced out, "You know I was just being annoying, right? I'm not going on tour with the Bellas, but I was always going to spend at least a few weeks of your summer break with you."

Stacie paused, and pulled back slightly. "No, and that's super annoying. I know we said we would, but that was before you left your job, and since then you keep on hedging your bets; so what are you talking about?"

"I mean I don't exactly have a job to be a good enough reason to break what I'd already promised, that we'd spend the summer together."

Stacie furrowed her brow. "When was this?"

Aubrey arched an eyebrow. "Like a year ago? You said you'd fly out to wherever I'd be, and we'd hang out." She shrugged. "I'd hoped I'd have more to offer than what's probably going to be New York or Atlanta heat during the summer and watching me work at home, but I've actually been looking forward to spending time with you this summer."

Understanding dawned, and despite her feelings of happiness, joy, and mild amusement about the fact that Aubrey had kept in mind a promise they'd made a year ago and the sentiment behind it, Stacie couldn't help but frown. "I didn't need to bake cookies?"

"I guess not."

Stacie growled, and moved so she could push Aubrey to lie on her back. "You're terrible."

Aubrey could only laugh, responding, "Probably."

"Definitely." Stacie corrected, using her body to pin Aubrey to the bed. "Since I don't think I'm gonna get any more of those cookies, I'm gonna need to get some payback."

Aubrey grinned. "Do we have time?"

Stacie smiled, "Probably not." She chuckled, joining Aubrey's laughter, even as she conceded, "They can wait."

* * *

The last thing Aubrey or even Stacie expected upon arriving at the Bellas' residence that afternoon was for a party to be in full swing, although if they stopped to really think about it, was it _really_ that much of a surprise? In Barden, the general response to good or bad news seemed to be throwing a party, after all. Aubrey frowned when someone handed Stacie a drink almost immediately after their arrival, and took the drink from Stacie's hand and placed it on a nearby table. "What's going on?"

"This must be the denial stage," Stacie mused, glancing around the crowded house.

"Should these people be drinking when they still have finals coming up?" Aubrey asked.

"Don't be such a downer, grandma. It's a college party." Stacie reminded.

To be honest, at that moment Aubrey was just glad Stacie had taken her up on her offer to borrow a set of clothes instead of doing the walk of shame in last night's sexy-chef getup. Before Aubrey could say anything in her defense, they encountered Denise, who, for someone who was at a party apparently thrown in honor of her impending graduation, actually looked worried.

"Nice party." Stacie commented.

Denise shot her a look, replying, "You should answer your phone, because it's not just mine." And then she directed her gaze on Aubrey. "I told Chloe."

"I figured." Aubrey acknowledged. "How's she taking it?"

Denise motioned to their surroundings. "How do you think?"

"This is not a good sign," Aubrey noted, lightly squeezing Stacie's hand to indicate her worry.

"I tried to keep you out of it," Denise continued, but Aubrey cut her off, shaking her head.

"No, I saw this coming," Aubrey assured her. "I'd hoped against it, but…"

"You don't know, maybe she's genuinely happy for Denise," Stacie countered, allowing herself to be to play devil's advocate on Chloe's behalf.

"Oh, I'm sure she is," Aubrey replied. "It's not Denise she's going to be mad at."

Denise cringed. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," Stacie told her.

Aubrey glanced briefly around them, looking for Chloe, before she turned to Denise and met her gaze. In an even tone, belying Stacie's own assertion, she told Denise, "You should be."

"Aubrey." Stacie said sternly.

"I need a drink." Aubrey grumbled. She looked at Denise. "It's fine. But when you get your annual bonus, remember who helped you get your job."

Denise smiled faintly. "Do you take checks?"

"I will accept a gift basket," Aubrey told her. "Did they tell you where you're reporting?"

"Ohio first, and then probably California." Denise reported.

"What's in Ohio?" Stacie asked.

"Head Office of the company that got her." Aubrey told her.

"Oh." Stacie turned to Aubrey. "I won't come and see you if you take a job in Ohio."

"This is noted." Aubrey replied.

"I'm serious," Stacie insisted. "Don't take a job in Ohio."

"Yes, dear." Aubrey said dryly, and she and Stacie shared a look of bemusement, knowing Aubrey was unlikely to take a job someplace where she didn't have any kind of professional advantage; and despite her warning, Stacie was very likely to go anywhere Aubrey would be, anyway.

Stacie turned to Denise. "Are you sure you want to go be a corporate stooge, instead of spend a few weeks trapped in a bus with your very best friends to sing a cappella to an adoring crowd?"

Denise laughed. "I will take employment, thanks."

"Your loss."

"I'll live." Denise turned back to Aubrey. "Chloe's outside."

Aubrey, however, was frowning at Stacie, and when Stacie directed her attention to her, she repeated warily, "'Corporate stooge'."

"Don't look at me like that, you know I find Oversight executive Aubrey Posen hot." Stacie reminded.

Aubrey rolled her eyes. "You're so weird."

"And you're dating me, so," Stacie shrugged, and smiled brightly at her, giving her a knowing wink. "Right back at 'ya."

Aubrey rolled her eyes, and glanced around the room. "Where are the drinks?"

"Kitchen." Denise answered.

Aubrey nodded.

"Ooh, get me one?" Stacie asked.

Aubrey shot her a look as she departed. "You called me a corporate stooge, babe. Get your own drink."

Stacie pouted, and Denise watched the exchange with slight amusement, but once Aubrey was gone, she clarified, "I'm sending her a check, aren't I?"

"And an awesome gift basket, yeah." Stacie confirmed.

Aubrey had stashed her preferred brand of beer in the back of the Bellas' fridge the last time she had been in town, and – knowing how the Bellas claimed anything in the fridge as a free-for-all – either through sheer ignorance, neglect, or fear of Aubrey Posen, it remained untouched where she'd left it. And she was glad, because the keg the Trebles had supplied was awful, and she needed the liquid courage before she confronted Chloe about… everything.

She hadn't been lying, or merely projecting her own feelings, in saying she and Chloe had feelings of resentment about her having graduated and leaving while Chloe purposely failed her classes to stay in Barden. They hadn't said as much, but they knew each other well enough to know these kinds of things. While they had forgiven each other, so to speak, the feeling didn't just go away, and to both their discredit, neither of them have gone out of their way to truly fix what they both refused to acknowledge was broken.

She can't say for certain at what point she'd known Chloe wouldn't be graduating for another year, but having it confirmed hadn't come as a surprise. What Aubrey couldn't say for certain was how Chloe would react to Denise's graduation.

As she'd said, she had no doubt that Chloe was happy for Denise, but that didn't mean she was _thrilled_ about it. After all, she'd had built up their victory tour as a major event, and, yes, Denise was definitely wrong for waiting for so long, but Chloe had known Denise would be graduating at the end of the school year. This wasn't supposed to be an out-of-the-blue turn of events.

She didn't know what to expect from the confrontation they were likely to have, but she just hoped she would be able to keep her mouth shut about Chloe staying in Barden for _another year_.

Beca found her first. "Hey. Anyone tell you and Stacie yet?"

Aubrey frowned, confused. "Tell me what?"

"We got an invite as ICCA champions to perform at the Kennedy Center."

"Hey! That's great!" Aubrey exclaimed, and then both she and Beca started to move in for a hug before they caught themselves and stopped short of contact. There was an awkward pause that followed, in which neither of them knew what to do with themselves, and how to properly celebrate such big news, then Beca suggested:

"Special occasion?"

Aubrey considered, and nodded in acquiescence, both of them allowing the hug to happen.

When they separated, Aubrey asked, "When did you find out?"

"I got the email last night." Beca replied.

"Denise didn't say anything when we ran into her."

Beca winced. "I told the Bellas about fifteen minutes before Denise finally told Chloe why she can't be there."

Aubrey closed her eyes, and pinched the bridge of her nose because that was not good. "How'd she take it?"

"Uh," Beca indicated the party happening around them. "She insisted on throwing Denise a big party."

"For graduating?"

"Yeah, okay, let's go with that," Beca nodded. "We told everyone it's about the Kennedy Center, but, you know."

Aubrey _did_ know. But before she could press Beca for more details, something collided into them from the side, and before they knew it, Chloe was wrapping her arms around their waists.

"There you two are!"

Drunk Chloe. Aubrey's trepidation only grew, trying to figure out which version of Chloe's inebriated persona would be making an appearance. "Hey, Chlo. Beca was just telling me about the Kennedy Center."

"Oh, totes!" Chloe nodded enthusiastically. "Even the Trebles never got to perform there."

This was true. Aubrey was so going to brag about this with the older girls who had been Bellas with them. She turned to Beca, realizing that the Kennedy Center usually kept the performers for their events a secret until the official announcement, and had to ask: "Is it safe to tell people about your invitation?"

Beca paused, and then worriedly glanced around them at the party. "Uh… maybe?"

Aubrey gave her a weary look.

"Don't look at me like that, it was just an invitation and a line that other details will follow later." Beca said defensively.

Okay, point.

"Psh, stop being a buzzkill, Bree." Chloe interrupted the exchange. "Becs, don't let her kill the buzz."

"I think she's just being cautious, Chloe." Beca offered.

"Yeah, well she should have been careful about finding Denise a job that keeps her from our tour," Chloe retorted.

There it was. Brutally honest drunken Chloe, then.

Chloe turned to Aubrey. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"She asked me for a job." Aubrey said simply.

"You're unemployed! How can you hire her?" Chloe argued.

"Um, I'm not? I just gave her CV to someone I know who could screen and maybe hire her." Aubrey informed her.

"But the tour-!"

"She got to choose her start date, Chloe." Aubrey said, exasperated.

Chloe furrowed her brow, and turned to Beca questioningly.

"It means Denise was the one who wanted to start right away, Chloe." Beca explained.

Chloe turned back to Aubrey. "What, she couldn't get away from the Bellas fast enough? Or did she learn that from you?"

Ouch. Aubrey blanched, and even Beca had to cringe a little.

That stung, but the accusation was fair: Aubrey _had_ left almost immediately after she had graduated from Barden, for a job she hadn't even told Chloe about until a week before graduation. But until that moment, Aubrey hadn't seen the parallel between her leaving with Denise's own impending departure.

"Chloe…"

Chloe shook her head, cutting of whatever Aubrey had been about to say. "I get it, graduation's a big deal; but being a Bella's awesome, I don't know why you have to be so eager to leave."

Because Aubrey had needed a new start, and Denise wanted to seize opportunity knowing well-paying social work was rare.

But Aubrey had a feeling Chloe wasn't really looking for an explanation.

"So another tour of having to reconfigure choreography and mixing up the harmony," Chloe remarked, and raised her solo cup at Aubrey in a mock salute. "Thanks a lot, Bree. That's twice, now."

Aubrey couldn't even begin to defend herself, because, well, Chloe actually had a point on that one.

"Okay, hey, that's not Aubrey's fault." Beca protested.

Off Aubrey's surprised look and Chloe's skeptical glance, Beca had to amend her position.

"Okay, not _entirely_ Aubrey's fault," Beca corrected. "But she was just trying to help."

"Well, next time maybe reconsider before you help the Bellas, Aubrey!" Chloe exclaimed. "I can't just scare the girls into submission to fix things!"

Aubrey raised her hands in surrender. "Fine!"

"Good!"

Beca glanced at them, trying to figure out where they were in the argument and reconciliation, and tentatively voiced out, "Denise _did_ ask Aubrey for help with the job, you know."

Chloe snorted. "Right. As if Denise would have the guts to ask Aubrey for help." She looked at Aubrey. "Did you know the girls had nightmares of you when they were freshmen?"

Beca did not know what to make of the fact that Aubrey at first seemed perturbed about this revelation, and then nodded in self-satisfaction. "You're terrifying."

"Oh," Chloe smiled patronizingly at Beca, and then squeezed Aubrey's waist, if a little too hard. "Don't let her leadership style and projectile vomit fool you: my bestie's a teddy bear."

Beca eyed Aubrey curiously.

"Let's not find out." Aubrey told her in a tone firmly.

Beca nodded her quick agreement.


End file.
